The Hearts of Worlds
by Crimsongypsy
Summary: A normal girl with a normal life meets a not so normal character who gives her an oppertunity to enter a world she's only dreamed of. But is she truly fit to serve the forces of evil and will circumstances change her destiny?
1. Nothing's Like Before

(A/N: You've probably seen this before, if you haven't then 'hello!' I'm in the process of re-writing this story right now because I think I've definitely grown as a writer since I started it. Sahara is mine, the beginning is slightly based on a scene from Kingdom Hearts, the song is "Simple and Clean" by Utada Hikaru and is not mine, Hades is property of Disney. That should be it)

The Heart of Worlds

Chapter 1: Nothing's Like Before

_The Daily Things That Keep Us All Busy _

_Are Confusing Me That's When You Came To Me and Said_

There will always be a door to the light

Together we can do it

Remember what you said before?

_Wish I Could Prove I Love You_

_But Does That Mean I Have To Walk On Water_

_When We Are Older You'll Understand _

_It's Enough When I Say So_

_And Maybe Some Things Are that Simple_

The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes

They're coming

I'll always be with you too

_When You Walk Away You Don't Hear Me Say_

_Please, Oh Baby Don't Go_

_Simple and Clean Is The Way That You're Making Me Feel Tonight_

_It's Hard to Let it Go_

Let's close this door for good

Take Care of Her

I'll come back to you, I promise

_Hold Me, Whatever Lies Beyond This Morning_

_Is A Little Later On Regardless of Warnings_

_The Future Doesn't Scare Me At All_

_Nothing's Like Before_

I know you will

You will

will….

* * *

Rain. As far as the eye could see the crystalline drops fell darkening what was already a dark and mysterious night. The downpour blurred the far off neon lights of the abandoned streets. No one was insane enough to brave the storm, an overwhelming sense of foreboding hanging in the darkened sky. A lone figure slowly made his way through the desolate town paying no mind to the driving rain drenching him from head to toe. He was clad in a long black trench coat, his face obscured by the hood pulled low over his head. Only the silver of his thick zipper shown in the neon light. No sounds could be heard aside from the buzz of neon and the splatter of rain on the cold hard asphalt.

The stranger took a deep breath, steadying his mind. He needed to be here; he needed to know. He looked up from his thoughts on impulse. Before him, the sparkling puddles of freshly fallen rain bubbled into a black ooze. The substance began to grow and take on the shape of what could only be called a living shadow. The creatures were human sized, with long antenna and shining, soulless, vacant eyes that stared at hooded figure in curiosity. There was a bright flash and the clang of metal as the man drew two large weapons from under his coat. They both resembled large keys, one made of obsidian cruel and full of vengeance, the other made of light directly from the heart.

Above the city, on the rooftops far beyond the battle about to ensue, another nameless creature watched the hooded one through blindfolded eyes. His enhanced senses warned him of the conflict that had arisen. He knew he would be involved soon enough, but a smirk spread across his pale features. Beside him stood a woman, dressed in the same manner as the man below. She lowered her hood allowing crimson hair to spill over her shoulders. Her green eyes darted from her companion to the hooded figure. The blindfolded figure threw up his hands as if commanding the clouds above him. They obeyed, opening up the heavens and revealing a sky full of falling stars.

The hooded figure looked around him at the heartless creatures quickly surrounding him. His weapons stood at the ready, waiting for the first opponent to test him. He asked his attackers and the man above him one simple question.

"Where's Sora?" As he spoke a heart of pure light appeared on the ground surrounding him, pushing back the attacking creatures.

The figure on the roof top laughed to himself as he removed his blindfold and prepared to clean up the aftermath.

The shadows stared back at their foe not comprehending his words. They looked between one another in silent conversation. The hooded figures patience grew thin and without warning he pounced on the nearest creature, entering himself into a melee for which he was far outnumbered.

Pulling her own key shaped weapon from beneath her coat, the woman descended from her viewing area as the mysterious man continued to laugh.

* * *

Millions of worlds away, Sahara Dalbek sat bolt upright in her bed. She breathed heavily as she shakily ran a hand through her crimson hair. "Not again," she sighed, flopping back down onto her pillow. Sahara was use to vivid dreams, but this one was by far the most realistic. The two unknowns had been frequenting her dreams for over a month now. She couldn't shake the images brought about by the strange nightmare. Instead she rolled over and glared at her alarm clock.

"5:30 am," the bright red letters taunted her.

"Ungodly hour" she muttered to herself sitting up and yawning. Strange images still fresh in her memory, the idea of returning to the sleeping realm didn't sound all to interesting. Sahara stood and headed for the bathroom, the warm embrace of an early morning shower calling out to her.

Several minutes later, Sahara wrung out her damp hair and pulled on a thin black sweatshirt jacket and a pair of blue jeans. She threw several notebooks into her book bag and zipped it shut. Her minds eye continued replaying her dream as if it had actually happened in the early hours of the morning.

Sahara sighed, closing her eyes. "I really wish I could be doing anything but this," she lamented to no one in particular. She slung her bag over her shoulder, grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter and headed outside to her waiting car.

* * *

Living in California for the past 20 years of her life, Sahara was use to traffic. Even in her small town of Lisendisty, there seemed to be and abundance of cars cluttering the roadways at all hours of the day. This particular day, however, traffic was unusually light and Sahara reached the Lisendisty Community College campus in less than twenty minutes. As always the parking lot was near full capacity when her blue Mazda pulled in. Sahara finally found a spot and began her trek to class.

But either due to lack of sleep or frustration with having to walk what felt like a mile to the main campus, Sahara didn't notice the lack of any physical human bodies in the parking lot. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the dark, ownerless shadows that slowly crept along behind her.

Sahara mindlessly continued in her set walking pattern through the deserted campus. Suddenly she realized she was alone. There were no students, no teachers, not even a janitor present. Sahara shivered involuntarily unsure of whether to find somewhere to hide, to run back to her car or to continue to class. Her mind whirled away searching for explanations. She knew it wasn't the weekend, she knew the abundance of cars meant no classes were canceled, she knew she wasn't insane. At least she hoped she wasn't insane. Sahara looked around realizing she was still moving, her feet having seemingly acquired a mind of their own. She soon found herself inside the main hallway of the math building, still completely alone. The squeak of her sneakers on the linoleum was amplified in the corridor devoid of human life. Her feet stopped at room 66.

Sahara subconsciously readjusted her bag on her shoulder before reaching a shaking hand toward the metallic door handle. She pushed on it lightly causing it to move downward with her force. She pulled her hand back unsure of what to do with the unlocked door. Drawing a deep breath, Sahara reached for the handle again and slowly eased the door open.

The classroom was dark and deserted like every other place Sahara had traversed so far. The smell of sulfur hit her nose, but didn't seem quite as odd as it should have. Sahara groped at the wall before her hands finally found a light switch. She flicked the switch and took a few more steps into the room. "Hello?" she asked, trying to keep the fear from her voice.

Suddenly the lights shut off and the door behind her slammed shut. Sahara jumped and let out a small yelp. In the dark, she tried to turn back toward her exit but ran into a nearby desk, slamming her knee into the plastic chair attached to it. Hissing in pain she grabbed her knee and hobbled toward the door. She reached out for the handle and grasped nothing but air. Panic began to overtake her thoughts. She was alone, it was dark, she was locked in a room with god only knew what and she was starting to lose feeling in her quickly bruising knee. Sahara turned her back to the door and leaned heavily against it. She removed the needless weight of her backpack, laying it on the ground next to her. "_It's okay, Hara."_ She tried to mentally reassure herself. "_You're probably just having another weird dream or the stress of school is getting to you. Take a deep breath and calm down. It'll be all right."_ Sahara did what her conscience told her, for once, and closed her eyes trying to process all possible causes of the situation at hand.

"You know you can't block all this out by pretending it's not happening, babe." A voice cut through the darkness and rang in Sahara's ears. Her eyes shot open as realization dawned; she had heard that voice before. Suddenly a blue flame erupted in the middle of the room. Sahara gaped, green eyes wide, in astonishment at the dull propane-like light source. The fire flashed again causing her to cover her eyes. Sahara dropped her arm from her face slowly and froze watching the sight before her unfold.

There standing in the middle of the room, illuminated in the strange blue light was what could loosely be described as a man. The being before Sahara was about six feet tall with dull, gray, lifeless skin. He wore long flowing robes of a darker gray, with subtle blue embroidery on the sleeves and neckline. His face was long and narrow with a sharp pointed noise and two sickeningly yellow eyes. The blue flames Sahara had initially seen formed the creature's hair. A sly smile played across his gray lips as he looked the frightened girl before him up and down.

Sahara opened her mouth to speak, but found no words would form. The man floated toward her, a mist where normal feet should be. "Hi there," he said, pointed teeth forming an even more sinister smile. "Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead. How's it going?"

Sahara looked between the face of the God before her and down at the hand he had offered to her and suddenly broke out in hysterical laughter. She covered her mouth with her hand as she slowly sunk to the ground, drowning in her own giggles. The Lord of the Dead raised an eyebrow at the strange girl having a laugh attack in his presence.

"Oh my god. I finally lost my mind." Sahara announced, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Hey babe, that was gone long before I got here," Hades quipped.

Sahara gave him a pointed look, "First off, don't call me 'babe'. Second, if I'm not going crazy…er, then why are you here? Am I dying?"

"Nah, that's the Fate's job," He explained. "I'm here strictly on business. Your business."

"What are you talking about? How do I know you're not just some bizarre fatigue induced delusion? That I didn't get in some horrible car accident on the way to class and now my brain is personifying my comma fantasies as fictional deities?"

Hades rolled his eyes, "You want proof? What, the flaming blue hair isn't enough for you? Who do you think made all those collegiate students out there disappear?"

"You killed them didn't you?" Sahara replied sarcastically as she stood and made her way toward the center of the classroom. She leaned again the closest desk, trying to alleviate the throbbing in her knee.

"They're fine. Actually if you want to see for yourself you can." Hades snapped his long slender fingers and the lights in the classroom turned back on. Sahara watched in astonishment and translucent ghostly images of the students from her math class began filing into the room. They took no notice of the girl and the large gray god and continued chattering and getting ready for class to begin. Hades snapped his fingers again and they disappeared as quickly as they had materialized. "Satisfied?"

Sahara's green eyes were still wide in disbelief "They could see us…"

"That's right. Could you imagine them all walking in here and seeing me? Can you say hysteria? But they're not what I'm worried about. I'm here strictly to chat with you."

"I'm listening."

"Long and short of it, I wanna take you up on your idea."

Sahara stared at him blankly. "My idea? What are you talking about?"

"How soon we forget. Maybe a refresher is in order." With a finger snap a black tape recorder materialized in Hades hand.

Sahara's own voice played back to her from the black contraption, "I really wish I could be doing anything but this."

"Now do you understand?" Hades asked as the tape recorder vanished in a puff of black smoke. Sahara nodded slightly, curious as to what, exactly, the deity was getting at. "Here's the gist of it. As you may well know, I don't really interfere in the lives of mortals, especially ones living here in your world. However, I'm willing to make an exception for you, Hara, because you a 'special' case." Sahara didn't like the way he said special. He flashed her a cheesy grin that made him look like a used car salesman trying to close a deal.

Sahara sighed, "Look, Hades, buddy, I think you've got this all wrong. See, I say a lot of things that basically have no meaning during my little 'early morning angsty' tirades. So thanks loads for the concern and all, but I really should be getting back to reality." She turned around, making a b-line for the door, having forgotten she was currently unable to leave. As Sahara reached for the invisible door handle, Hades appeared at her side, blue flames burning red for a moment as his short temper flared.

"I don't think you understand what I'm offering you here, babe. This is a once in a lifetime deal. I want to give you everything you've ever wanted in less than five minutes and you're refusing? You are nuts!" He declared.

Sahara gave the god a pointed look, a small smirk adorning her face. "And what do you know about what I want?"

"I know you're not happy. I know you're sick of responsibility and boredom and the life your living. I know you'd much rather be where I'm from." His eyes looked strangely sincere as her told Sahara everything he knew she wanted to hear.

Sahara stared at him, biting her lower lip in thought. "So, let's say I do take you up on all this. What do you want in return? I mean, I can't be expected to make a deal with the devil and not have to give something in return, can I?

"Devil's such a harsh term," he mused. "Basically, you come with me. I drop you off in a few of the hot spots in the, pardon the pun, 'Disney World'. You can dance, kiss, smooze, pretty much do whatever you want to, but you'll have to collect something for me. Specifics aren't a big deal just yet."

Sahara pondered his words as she sat down in the closest desk. "Will I have to hurt anyone?"

"Well… I mean, you know, you are working for me and, hey, I do deal in death." This statement earned Hades another eye roll.

"All right," Sahara proclaimed a new determination in her eyes, "How about this? I'll agree to your little deal and all your rules and such, but I want an escape clause." Hades opened his mouth to retort, but Sahara continued, "If I, or you, end up hurting anyone I become friends with, the deal is off."

The Lord of the Dead rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "You definitely drive a hard bargain, kid, but I think this'll work. You hang out, do my dirty work; any of your little friends get hurt, you're free as a bird.

With another snap of his fingers, a long scroll labeled "Contract" appeared in the air in front of Sahara. Next to it floated a quill made from an ebony feather. "Sign on the dotted line, babe, and badda bing, badda boom, you get your wish."

Sahara stood from the desk, attempting to read the nearly microscopic print before her. She swallowed thickly, grabbing the pen. "Just stop calling me babe."

In one fluid motion the name "Sahara Dalbek" appeared at the bottom of the scroll in black cursive letters. The contract rolled up on its own accord and it and the pen disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"That's it!" Hades exclaimed, "Welcome to the Minion Club!" He stuck out his hand to Sahara.

"Never mind, I think 'babe' sounded better," she ignored the deity's hand, sitting back down with a frown.

"Hey, don't worry about it. It's time to see your new residence." The blue God took Sahara's arm and pulled her back to her feet with little effort. Sahara attempted to squirm from his grip but suddenly felt woozy. Her legs collapsed out from under her as she fell into the darkness of blue and gray smoke.

(A/N: So I'm slowly making my way through re-writing this story like I said. Differences aren't too bad, I'm just hoping I'm turning it into better writing. Then... if I get through all that, hopefully I'll finally have something new to add to this. Sorry folks! I'm a full time student with a part time job, working on one novel and starting another stupid fanfiction. That's how it goes )


	2. A Perfect World

_**Author's Note: **Here's the next chapter of my one going re-writes. I fleshed out more of the plot, fixed some weird sentences that made me wonder what I was thinking when I wrote them and tried to make the whole thing more understandable and intriguing in general. I really like it and whether you're reading it for the 1st or the 8th time, I'd absoultely love feedback. Hopefully things will continue to improve from here!_

* * *

**Chapter 2: A Perfect World**

_It is Time… _

The words rattled through Sahara's head, trying to awaken hidden meanings.

Her eyes shot open, her mind foggy as though she'd been sleeping for years.

Suddenly she was falling; a weightless fall through complete darkness.

She landed; the ground cold and hard.

Sahara scrambled to her feet a sense of danger encasing her body keeping her on alert.

She took a deep breath and shivered.

Beneath her, the ground illuminated

A single light just under her feet that quickly grew stretching out in all directions

An elaborate strained glass pattern was soon visible; a girl--- looking not unlike herself—with closed eyes and arms outstretched, a golden glow radiating from her. There were other shapes: the darkened shadow of a young man, a key, the shadow of a raven with glowing yellow eyes, a tiara outlined in shimmering gold, and eight blue-black hearts. The outer most ring looked like dark blue flames much like those belonging to Hades.

As Sahara stared in amazement at the floor she didn't notice the black puddles forming at her feet.

They slowly grew, the same way they had in her dream, transforming into living shadows with sickeningly yellow eyes and sharp claws. Their antenna waved in the air as the caught sight of Sahara.

Finally seeing them, Sahara inched backwards until she reached the end of the stained glass platform she stood on

The fall into deeper darkness didn't seem more appealing so she stood her ground.

_Take What Is Rightfully Yours…_

With only echoes of the words remaining, Sahara closed her eyes and slowed her breathing.

At once she felt stronger as if a new force had taken control.

_You Don't Know the Strength You Possess Yet…_

She held out her right hand channeling all the energy that circled her.

When she closed her fist she felt cold metal against her hand.

Opening her eyes she found a large silver key with a golden handle waiting for her.

The creatures seemed to stop in their tracks at the sight of it.

_But You Will. It Is Your Destiny…_

Sahara swung it through the air once as if testing the new accoutrement.

One of the shadows jumped at her, it vanished as Sahara swung the key through it.

The others attacked in rapid succession but each was met with the cold steal of the blade in Sahara's hand.

The last creature vanquished the key disappeared from Sahara's possession.

_Go! There Is Much To Be Done…_

The light of the stained glass vanished next leaving Sahara in complete darkness.

She closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

When Sahara came to again, the sensation of being hit in the head with a blunt instrument was at the forefront of her mind. She sat up slowly, pushing aside a dark gray blanket and attempting to make sense of her surroundings. The comfortable bed she found herself on in the small room made her question just how evil Hades really was. The walls, ceiling, floors and furniture were all done in shades of black and gray. The bleak sheik of the Underworld was almost amusing to Sahara. As she began to laugh to herself and question her sanity she heard a loud worried voice "Oh no, she's awake!"

Sahara turned to the doorway and blinked at the two creatures standing there. They were both only a few feet high. One was teal, skinny and shaky; the other was purple, squat and confused looking. Continuing to her stare off with the creatures, Sahara swung her feet over the side of the couch and waited for one of them to speak. There was a long silence.

"Uh, hi!" she finally prompted.

The imps shrunk back as if they hadn't expected such a reaction. The teal one spoke first, in a rushed almost panicked tone, "Hello! We're supposed to take you to Hades." Sahara nodded and got to her feet. She stretched the sleep out of her muscles and looked at the creatures expectantly.

They both went wide eyed and nearly plowed into each other as they rushed out of the bedroom. Following lazily behind them, Sahara examined more of the Underworld palace finding more of the same architecture; sharp lines and shades of gray.

Finally they came upon a set of ornately carved doors. The purple imp struggled to open them and the teal one hurried inside followed by Sahara. The throne room was spacious, probably more so than was necessary for it to be. The furniture was sparse, a large conference-like table with several chairs and a large sharp edged throne. Hades occupied the former pouring over a large stack of paperwork. Sahara continued to follow the teal creature as he made his way to the lord of the dead.

"Um.. boss," he managed to get out.

"What?!" Hades erupted, sending a fireball at the messenger. Sahara understood why the creatures had seemed so worried with a boss like Hades. He looked up and blinked when he saw Sahara. She waved at him innocently. "Finally awake, sleeping beauty?" he quipped.

The imp saw his chance and ran out of the room. "Cliché much?" Sahara asked taking a seat at the table near Hades. Hades smirked and went back to his papers. "So…" she began. "When do I start? I thought you'd have me out already."

"Not quite yet. You gotta learn all the rules before you can play the game, babe." he said, not looking up from his papers.

"I am not going through minion orientation!" Sahara proclaimed, crossing her arms over her chest.

Hades finally looked up at her, "Don't worry about that. You're a bit of a different situation. No cast member stuff for you."

"So what are these rules? I mean, I'm not just going to sit here all day while you fill out your taxes or whatever, am I?"

"Do you always ask this many questions?!"

"You know, you you'd make this easier if you just answered them. Or sent me away. Either way I'd stop bugging you!"

"Just leave me alone for a while so I can finish all this up. Then we'll talk," the irritation in his voice was unmistakable.

"Fine!" Sahara pouted. Standing from the table she was angered he had sent for her and was now bent on not telling her anything. Then again, she secretly feared being on the wrong end of one of his explosions.

Sahara walked toward the middle of the throne room where a strange pool sat. It was as if it had grown out of the granite floor like a hot spring or geyser. Peering into the pool, Sahara saw more gray which didn't really surprise her. She placed her hands on the edge and looked harder into the murky water. It started to swirl bringing in more colors, dark blues, greens and reds. The colors slowly morphed taking on almost humanoid shapes. Before they became clear Hades' sarcastic voice hit her ears, "You fall in there, I'm not bailing you out!"

Sahara stood up, glaring at the back of the burning head of the Lord of the Dead, hoping he felt her anger and knowing he didn't care. She strolled slowly letting her anger cool and reaching the far wall of the throne room. In the wall, was a very large picture view window overlooking the whole of the underworld. Sahara groaned as she realized it was almost the same as everything else she had seen thus far. No one would ever complain of eye strain from looking around the dark dreary surroundings. From her vantage point, Sahara could clearly make up the River Styx. The brightest thing in the place it wound through across the landscape glowing faintly and teeming with the souls of the recently deceased. Sahara found herself almost transfixed watching the river flow contemplating life and death in a way she hadn't ever found herself doing; it suddenly all seemed too real.

Much like her last attempt to lose herself in thought, this moment was soon thwarted but not by Hades. Instead, Sahara was interrupted by a set of glowing yellow eyes. She quickly realized there were not two but six eyes and she fell backwards as they focused on her and she caught sight of three sets of sparkling white fangs. The large three headed canine guardian of the Underworld looked far too hungry for Sahara's liking. "Good Cerberus," she said quietly, fearing for her safety but not wanting Hades to have to bail her out. She knew being a mortal gave her a large disadvantage against the huge canine trained to kill anything it found alive. "I'm not the kind of minion that makes a good chew toy." The dog growled viciously and moved closer to the fallen girl.

Sahara had run out of ideas, on impulse she lifted her arm and slowly stretched it out toward the gigantic dog. She rested her hand on the muzzle of his middle head and stared into his big yellow eyes.

Within a second, the demeanor of all three heads changed completely. The once ferocious hellhound now looked like a gigantic puppy. Sahara smiled but grimaced as Cerberus decided to show his affection with a lick from his enormous tongue. "You mutt!" Sahara cried wiping away the saliva from her face and petting all three of the dog's heads.

"Looks like you've got a way with dumb animals," Hades cynical tone was beginning to bore Sahara. She looked away from the dog to the Lord of the Dead who now stood feet away from her.

"Well I have to work with people like you, I guess it's just a skill." She replied.

"Ouch, you cut me deep," Hades held his chest, feigning hurt. "Now if you're done with the dog…"

Sahara sighed, giving each of Cerberus's head's one more good scratch. The dog looked at her sadly but apparently understood the trouble she would get in with their mutual master if she didn't go. Cerberus pulled his head out of the window and took off on to some other important doggy deed.

"It's time for you to get to work, babe," Hades said as Sahara stood up and made her way back to the chair she had occupied earlier.

"Gonna actually give me the details now?" she asked, sitting down.

"Oh but if I keep you waiting, I'll get the pleasure of hearing that lovely whining tone of yours." Sahara gave him a severely pointed look. "Why do I always pick the ones with no sense of humor? Anyway, your job's pretty simple. I'm gonna send you out to a few different places but while you're out I'll need you to pick up some things for me."

"Like what? Your dry cleaning?" Sahara smiled innocently. Hades un-amused face made her slump back into her chair.

He continued none the less, "You're going to find me the 'Hearts of Worlds.'" He said as if that made everything clear.

"Which are?"

"Stones shaped like hearts. They'll more than likely be in the possession of someone with a position of power in the world. But the point is, you get the gem and move to the next world until you get all ten of them. Easy enough right?"

Sahara held her hand to her chin, deep in thought, "So I help you find these things and then I get to go wherever and do whatever I want?"

"Basically."

"And what are you going to do with them?"

"That's my deal, babe and not really your problem.

With a sigh, Sahara looked up at the Lord of the Dead, "It's not like I have a choice do I?"

"See, now you're starting to catch on."

"Well then," she said standing from the table and trying not to dwell on the several feet of height Hades had on her. "Where to first?

"Grab you're sunscreen babe, you're headed to the Peruvian jungle!" he flashed his cheesy grin at Sahara again.

Sahara smirked to herself, "Sounds good."

"Send them all my regards. I'll come get you in a few days," Hades gave her a half sincere wave and snapped his fingers causing Sahara to vanish.

Sure she was gone, Hades let out a heavy sigh. This whole ordeal was going to end up being far more work then he had originally thought especially when these lousy chosen ones came equip with attitude problems. He began rubbing his temples as he made his way back to his ebony throne.

"PAIN!! PANIC!!!" He bellowed despite his ever-growing headache. "GET IN HERE NOW!!!"

In a matter of moments the two imps ran into the throne room barely coming to a stop before barreling into their boss. "You bellowed your rotten-ness?" Pain said.

"Just, let me know when my next appointment gets here."

"A..a..actually," Panic stuttered, wringing his shaky hands "She's, well see, she's already here"

Both minions ducked for cover as Hades erupted into red and orange flames, "WHAT!!!! How long has she been waiting?!?!"

"Well," Panic the first to find his voice, said. "She's only been here for a few minutes. See, you were talking to that other girl and you told us they weren't supposed to meet so…she's in the waiting room." He cringed involuntarily.

Hades looked at his henchmen in shock. A coherent thought had somehow managed to find its way into their minds; that was a rare occurrence. "Well, send her in already!" Pain and Panic raced from the throne room as quickly as they could, hoping to escape another painful outburst from their volatile tempered master.

Hades smoothed back his now calm blue flamed hair and ran his tongue across his pointed teeth. This meeting wasn't going to be any easier and it ever hurt to look one's best when plotting to rule the world. He quickly resolved not to get entangled in anymore of collaborative schemes unless they entitled little to no work on his side.

"Stress does not suit you Hades." A smooth sinister voice told the Lord of the Dead. "We've only just begun."

"Mal, babe," he cheerily smiled jumping down off his throne and hurrying toward the purple and black clad woman that had entered the room. Maleficent's expression remained emotionless. Hades wondered if her face could show anything besides malice or if her large pointed hat pulled her face too tightly for any emotion to be displayed. He looked around nervously for a moment "How's it going?! Sorry my wait staff isn't better trained. Hope you weren't out there too long."

"I will allow it this once. However, I have other pressing matters to attend to if this plan is to go off as planned. I trust you the girl and set her to her task."

"Yup, she's on her way. Just sent her to Peru for the first piece." he reassured the mistress of evil.

"Excellent," she said, a smile threatening to crack her emotionless features. "I will check back again soon." With that she disappeared in a puff of green and purple smoke.

Hades sighed again as he headed back to his throne and flopped down into it, his stress levels reaching new highs. He needed new cohorts, he needed a new job, he needed a vacation, but most of all, he needed some aspirin.

* * *

The first thing Sahara felt when she came to was the cold hard ground. Feeling about as lucid as she had when she arrived in the Underworld, she pushed herself up onto her hands and knees. Her vision displayed only a blur of greens and browns that slowly came into focus. The jungle was a far different landscape than the palace she had just left. Thick foliage surrounded her creating a dark canopy that allowed little light to stream through. The jungle was abnormally silent except for the occasional cracking of leaves and twigs.

"_Way to drop me in the middle of the freakin' jungle, Hades!!!_" Sahara fumed internally as she stood up. Placing her hands on her hips in frustration she realized for the first time that her clothing had changed drastically. Apparently Hades had seen it fit for her to be more incognito in the foreign land. The apparel consisted of a simple floor length dark red dress and a warm poncho of the same color with black embroidery on the hem. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a bandana that matched the poncho.

As Sahara mused over the surprisingly bearable fashion taste of the Lord of the Dead, she suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. The feeling threw her into déjà vu, making her recall the strange dream she had had during her transition. At her feet three large black spots formed out of nothingness and began to take shape. Before they could reach their full potential, Sahara took off running.

The jungle quickly became a blur as Sahara ran with reckless speed. Branches tore at her skin and clothing but she paid them little mind, hurrying so quickly she though she felt her heart might explode from the effort. Sahara pushed on ignoring her body; focusing on running so hard that she never saw the creature barreling toward her in the opposite direction. Her eyes met with the frenzied eyes of the animal just in time to, yelped, plow full speed into it, and tumble to the ground.

Sahara shook her head trying to ward off some of her dizziness as she looked over at the creature she had collided with. Lying next to Sahara was a semi-unconscious red and black llama. As she got closer to it, the llama made a noise that sounded suspiciously like the words "no touchy."

Before Sahara could react another loud noise echoed through the jungle, heading her direction. The color drained from her face as she remembered the danger she had just evaded. She thought to start running again, but the idea of the shadows attacking the llama that she had helped render unconscious rested too heavily on her conscious. Getting between the llama and the noise, Sahara braced herself for whatever she was about to meet. The low rumbling and snapping of greenery grew louder and closer until a man emerged from the jungle in front of them. He was tall and large in a more friendly than foreboding way, with dark skin and work worn clothing. Sahara was still hesitant, but couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief. The man in the dark green poncho looked confused to see the girl in the middle of the jungle and not the least bit threatening. His eyes fell on the llama and he looked back at Sahara with a caring smile.

"Um… are you all right miss?" The man asked.

"I'm fine." Sahara assured him, standing up. Her eyes quickly returned to the animal she'd been attempting to protect. It shook its head much the way she had earlier and looked around confused. "But I think I dazed that llama, is he yours?"

The man shook his head, "Not technically." And left his response at that as they watched the red and black llama shakily get to his feet. It opened his mouth in a way that made Sahara think for a fleeting moment it was going to attempt to speak. Instead, it closed its mouth with a snap and glared at Sahara.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as if the creature understood.

The peasant shook his head in embarrassment "Don't apologize to him. He's as much at fault as you are." The llama flipped his black hair in a regal fashion and chose to ignore them. "Anyway, I'm Pacha and you've already met Kuzco," he said indicating the llama.

"I'm Sahara"

The llama sauntered over to the two humans and gave his owner a very pointed look. Pacha seemed to understand Kuzco's silent question and addressed Sahara, "If you don't mind me asking, Sahara, what are doing out here? I mean, we really didn't expect to run into anyone."

Sahara gulped internally. She had known early on that she would need to create some kind of excuse for her presence in this world she just hadn't had enough time to formulate an idea. Hoping her improve skills wouldn't fail her, she decided to wing it. "Actually, I'm kind of lost. I was on my way to the palace from my village and I got turned around out here."

Pacha scratched his chin in thought. "Well, we're on our way to the palace too. You can come with us if you'd like. It'll probably be a whole lot safer than traveling alone." Kuzco did the llama equivalent of a double take and stared in shock at the villager.

Sahara smiled, happy for the hospitality. "That would be great! But, are you sure Kuzco's not going to have a problem with that?"

The llama in question turned his glare from Pacha to Sahara, "Oh he'll be fine," Pacha assured her, "He's just not really good with people; we're working on that. Anyway, we better get going. It'll be dark soon and we want to travel as far as we can before then." With that he began walking through jungle foliage again. Kuzco continued to glare at Sahara for a few more seconds before tossing his hair and strutting after Pacha.

Sahara followed the other two and bit her lip to keep herself from smiling or saying the wrong thing. She was well aware of the situation the young emperor turned llama had recently undergone but if Pacha and Kuzco were going to keep quiet about it, she'd keep her own knowledge a secret as well.

* * *

The majority of the journey that day was traveled in silence Pacha attempted to strike up small talk several times but the moment the conversation turned toward Sahara's life prior to their meeting she changed the subject or brought things to an awkward halt. Pacha never pressed the matter but Kuzco's watchful, curious eyes did not go unnoticed by Sahara.

The sun had begun to set when Pacha suggested the trio set up camp for the night. Sahara and Pacha made a small fire and they all ate some of the provisions Pacha had brought from home.

As the night grew colder, Sahara soon found herself staring off into the red and orange blaze burning before her, mentally, miles away from the camp site. The fire reminded her of Hades in a bad mood. She found herself amused and repulsed by the idea as she pulled her knees up to her chin, hugging her legs.

"You okay?" Pacha asked from across the fire.

Sahara looked up at him, not sure how to explain herself. "I'm fine. I just, I'm a little homesick, that's all."

"Well, we'll be to the palace by tomorrow. You can talk to the emperor and then head home," he told her, smiling.

Sahara couldn't help but smile back, though she knew it wasn't true. Turning back to the fire, she rubbed at her arms trying to create more warmth. The three traveling companions each remained silent as they watched the flames lick at the air and dance over the kindling.

Soon, Sahara found herself stifling a yawn. She stretched out onto the ground and laid her head on her arm. Sleep threatened to overtake her, but the coldness of the night continued to wake her back up. Before she could get up and pull her poncho closer, she looked up to see Kuzco standing over her. He stared her right in the eye and without a word laid down beside her. Sahara found herself smiling as she lightly scratched the llama's head lightly and placed her arm across his mid section. With a yawn she was soon asleep.

* * *

Sahara knew something was wrong when she woke up shivering despite the warm llama lying next to her. Green eyes wide open, she bolted upright from her sound sleep as the danger grew nearer. They were surrounded; all around the small campsite were the black shadow creatures Sahara had seen before. She jumped to her feet causing Kuzco to wake up as well. He seemed to understand the trouble they were in and was quickly to his hooves and running to wake up Pacha. Sahara watched as one of the small creatures leaped to attack the llama. With no time to think, she ran in between the two and ended up receiving the full blow from the shadow. Sahara was sent sprawling through the jungle and landed face first in the dirt.

Pushing herself up on her elbows, Sahara groaned and tried to recover her bearings. Running was not going to work this time. She needed to fight, she needed to concentrate, she needed something to help her get rid of the shadows. As if answering her cognitions, Sahara suddenly felt the same odd buzzing sensation she had felt in her dream. She scrambled to her feet and opened her hand. A white light grew from her outstretched palm quickly taking the shape of a giant key. She stared at it in astonishment for a moment and swung it through the air once. The frantic call yell of Pacha brought her back to the more pressing matter at hand.

Emerging from the jungle, Sahara quickly realized Pacha and Kuzco, weren't faring well. They were greatly outnumbered and were fending the shadow creatures off as best they could. The shadows began to tighten the circle they had formed around the peasant and his llama.

A loud metallic clang drew away the creatures' attention. They stared at one another, puzzled for a moment before turning toward the source. Before them stood Sahara, her head was bowed and she held the large key blade in both of her hands. The shadows began to move toward her and Sahara shot out her left hand. An invisible force traveled from Sahara's outstretched hand to the attacking creatures. Several were sent flying backwards, making contact with trees and the ground and disappearing in a puff of smoke like materials. The others watched as their companions were disintegrated. While they're backs were turned Sahara pounced. The blade cut through each creature creating black pieces that evaporated into the air.

Soon the darkness had been vanquished and Sahara stood leaning on the blade in the middle of the clearing. She panted heavily and fell to her knees in front of the other two travelers. Pacha and Kuzco stared at her in shock.

"The key blade!!!??" Kuzco shouted before he could stop himself. Sahara lifted her head enough to give him a questioning glare. The llama promptly covered his mouth with his hooves.

"Wha.." Pacha tried to speak but couldn't find the words. "What, just happened?"

Sahara took in a deep shaky breath and tried to steady herself "I don't know. I just, it was like it took over and I suddenly knew what to do." She looked up at Pacha her eyes filled with a combination of fear and waning power.

Pacha walked up to the fallen girl and helped her get to her feet. Standing on her own accord, Sahara took the key blade and holstered it in the belt around her waist. "So, uh, not to change the subject or anything, but did your llama just talk?"

Kuzco looked at her sheepishly, "Sahara," Pacha began "I'd like to introduce you to Kuzco, Emperor Kuzco."

"It's a pleasure to meet you your highness," Sahara smiled curtsying to the royal llama.

"So you're the new key blade master?" Kuzco asked, assessing Sahara more than she approved of him doing. "You're not exactly what I expected, but you did do a pretty good job of taking down those heartless"

Sahara raised an eyebrow at him. "Is that what those shadow things are? How do you know about all this?"

"Hey, I'm the emperor and as such I am born with the innate knowledge of virtually everything," Kuzco gloated.

"All the leaders of your world know I'm coming, huh?" Sahara asked flatly

"Yeah, pretty much. There was a big meeting about it a while back. I don't really know all the details."

"I thought you said you had an innate knowledge of everything" Sahara smirked

"Um.. we should keep going before they come back," Pacha told the other two, afraid of a fight breaking out between the llama and the girl. Kuzco shrugged at Sahara and the two followed after Pacha unsure of what would happen if they stayed in the same place for much longer.

"So, since you know that I'm the emperor now, what was it you need to ask me?" Kuzco asked Sahara later that morning as they walked through a sunny path in the middle of the jungle.

"If it's all right with you, I'd rather wait to ask you later. When you're more, yourself..." she smiled. Kuzco nodded in agreement. Silence passed between the two "So, how'd you become a llama?" Sahara finally asked.

"Long story actually. See, I haven't always been the sensitive conscience driven guy, er, llama, you see beside you," he informed her. Sahara rolled her eyes again and tried not to laugh "Oh, mock me why don't you!? Anyway, I fired my advisor, Yzma, and she didn't take it all that well. She decided to get even with me and have me killed but her henchman, Kronk, mixed up the poisons and turned me into this. Now, we're trying to get back to the palace so I can find the potion that'll turn me back into a human."

"Ah-ha! Well, this all makes a lot more sense now."

"What does? Me talking?"

"Yeah there's that, but it's that you're actually human. I was starting to get weirded out at the idea of a llama trying to flirt with me." Kuzco stopped in his tracks completely speechless. Satisfied with the silent llama, Sahara simply smiled and kept walking after Pacha.

* * *

The three travelers pressed on through the jungle for most of the morning. As the day wore on clouds began to move in over the Peruvian skies. Less than an hour away from the palace the first light drops of rain began to fall. Pacha, Kuzco and Sahara moved faster down the path trying to out run the impending storm. They reached the main village as the light sprinkle quickly turned into a torrential downpour.

Knowing they wouldn't be able to get past the palace guards, Kuzco led them to a servants' entrance on the west side of the enormous golden building. They hurried down into a dark gray-bricked hallway in the depths of the castle.

"This way," Kuzco told them. Soon the hallway opened onto a room with no decoration. The only thing in the entire room was a large gray sculpture of a bore sticking out from the wall. "This is the entrance to Yzma's 'secret lab'. Pull that lever" he instructed Pacha as they approached the wall.

Sahara took a step to her right as Pacha pulled the tusk lever on the bore carving and suddenly a trap door opened up in the floor directly below Kuzco. He let out a high-pitched scream as he fell into the darkness. Pacha and Sahara looked at each other then peered down the hole for any signs of the emperor. Suddenly the door behind them opened revealing a thoroughly soaked Kuzco. He looked more than perturbed and had a large green alligator biting onto his small llama tail. Out of frustration he kicked the gator in the jaw sending it running back through the door

"Okay, why does she even have that lever?!" Kuzco walked up to the other two, a frown on his face. Sahara laughed as Pacha pulled the other lever and the floor they were on flipped the three through the wall and into a small roller coaster car. A voice mumbled something about remaining seated and keeping ones arms and legs inside the car at all times then the tiny ride took off down its long and loopy track.

The coaster reached its end and threw the three passengers to the floor of Yzma's secret lab. The three quickly began searching though the laboratory for any sign of a potion that would change Kuzco back into a human.

"What'd it look like?" Pacha asked as he sifted through the vials on one of Yzma's tables.

"I don't know, just keep looking?" Kuzco told him trying to read the confusingly marked labels on the bottles closest to him.

"Over here!" Sahara said flinging open a large owl shaped cabinet. Inside were more cryptically marked vials of pink potion. Kuzco and Pacha ran over to her.

"Lion, Tigers, Bears…" Pacha said looking across the middle shelf. All three pairs of eyes fell on the human symbol marked on the shelf. There was nothing above it.

"Oh my!" a voice from behind them taunted. Kuzco, Pacha and Sahara turned around to see a woman who could only be described as scary beyond all reason. Her sagging wrinkled body was adorned with an ill-fitting purple dress. She wore a purple hat on her oddly shaped head and her eyes were filled with fourteen kinds of hatred all aimed at the llama standing before her. Behind her stood a large muscular built man. He seemed oblivious to the whole situation going on in front of him. "Looking for this?" The woman asked producing a pink vial of potion in her long bony fingers.

"Okay I admit it," Kuzco said, eyes wide with fear, "Maybe I wasn't as nice as I should have been, but, Yzma, do you really want to kill me?"

Yzma smiled evilly, "Just think of it as you're being let go, that your life's going in a different direction, that your body's part of a permanent out placement,"

"Hey, that's kinda like what he said to you when you got fired" The hunky henchman behind Yzma said, finally joining the conversation.

"I know," Yzma rolled her eyes "It's called a cruel irony, like my dependence on you"

"I can't believe this is happening!!" Panic began to overtake the emperor as he realized his life may very well have just reached its untimely end. Sahara placed a reassuring hand on his back.

"Then I bet you weren't expecting this…" Yzma declared lifting up the hem of her skirt.

Sahara, Pacha and Kuzco all recoiled in horror, seeing more of Yzma then they had ever needed to. They covered their eyes but Yzma laughed again. She pulled her skirt up to her knee to reveal a large pointed dagger strapped to her leg. The three breathed a sigh of relief as Yzma took the knife from its holster and threw it towards her clueless sidekick, Kronk "Finish them off!!"

Kronk stared at the dagger in his hand then at the persons he had been told to get rid of. As Pacha, Kuzco, Sahara, and Yzma watched in confusion, Kronk began talking to himself. A few short seconds later Yzma's temper flared. "Kronk!" she yelled getting his attention, "Why did I think you could do this? This one simple thing? It's like I'm talking to a monkey. A really really big stupid monkey named Kronk. And you do you want to know something else? I never liked your spinach puffs…Never!!"

Kronk's lower lip trembled as Yzma's words hit him. His eyes suddenly darted to the chandelier hanging above Yzma. In one smooth motion he cut the brown rope and the light came crashing down. The others all stared in horror, afraid to find an ugly squished pile of Yzma flattened under the chandelier. Instead they gasped at the stick thin woman standing in the only bare spot in the middle of the chandelier's metal framework that could have possibly allowed her not to be squashed.

Kronk looked more confused than the others, "Strange, that usually works"

"And so does this!" Yzma declared jumping away from the chandelier and pulling a nearby lever, opening a trap door underneath her lackey.

"Ah, should have seen that coming" Kronk remarked before falling through the hole with a scream.

As Yzma watched her former henchmen fall, Pacha sprung into action. He ran toward Yzma and pulled the vial out of her hand. Yzma quickly jumped on his back and began beating him on the head with her bony fists. Sahara ran toward the two but could find no good way to help or hurt either party. She wound up with an elbow to the face, making her even angrier.

She grabbed Yzma around the waist and tried to pry her off of Pacha. Sahara succeeded and Pacha dove for the potion about to hit the ground. Yzma dug her long red fingernails into Sahara's arm causing the girl to lose her grip and hiss in pain. The villainess took a flying leap and elbowed Pacha's hard in the back, causing him to let go of the vial. Yzma quickly got up and grabbed the potion, laughing maniacally to herself. Kuzco entered the fray running up behind the old woman and head butting her in the back causing her to fly across the room and drop the potion. As Sahara grabbed for the glass bottle, Yzma got to her feet and pushed over the cabinet full of potions. "Opps, silly me!" She smiled. All the bottles of pink liquid fell to the ground making the human potion indistinguishable from the others. Sahara, Pacha and Kuzco sifted through the bottles trying futilely to identify the right one.

"Better hurry," Yzma taunted pulling on a golden cord hanging next to her "I'm expecting company. Wait 'till the others find out that I destroyed both the emperor and the key blade master"

Doors all around the laboratory opened to reveal a slew of heartless. Unlike the ones in the jungle, these looked more like the palace guards; half of their body was blue, the other half red. They quickly surrounded the three heroes. Before Yzma could even issue and order, Sahara had drawn the key blade. "Ready for this guys?" she mumbled to the peasant and the llama. They both nodded in agreement "Good!"

Much like the earlier fight in the deep jungle, the battle in Yzma's lab was a quick and devastating one. Kuzco bit and head butted the heartless, Pacha punched and kicked them and Sahara hacked and slashed through the creatures with the key blade. Once the heartless had all been defeated the three turned their attention back to Yzma. A look of panic spread across her wrinkled features. Without another word she grabbed a handful of the vials and took off running down the nearest hallway. Sahara, Pacha and Kuzco didn't hesitate and then dashed off after the dastardly female.

* * *

For a woman that old, Yzma was in surprisingly good shape and kept well ahead of the heroes. Sahara, who led the vigilantes, sped down a flight of stairs and found an open door. She ran through the doorway and found a large empty trench but no sign of Yzma.

"She's drained the canal," Kuzco told them "I think I know where she went." The llama ran past Sahara and jumped down into the canal. Pacha and Sahara followed and they soon reached a large opening that served as a holding pool for the water of the canal. At the bottom of the crevice were two holes. A large purple banner from the upper wall hung down through one of the openings.

"Grab this and follow me." Sahara instructed. She grabbed the banner with both hands and stepped off the ledge. Her hands burned slightly as they slid down the purple cloth. Holding onto the banner for dear life, Sahara realized she was outside and that the orifice she had just fallen out of was the nose of the face on the palace. Stopping herself, Sahara swung up to the left, grabbed hold of the golden fixture sticking out of the wall and pulled herself up onto the ledge. Kuzco and Pacha followed suit and the three then began climbing up the facial features of the palace.

When they reached the highest ledge of the palace face, Yzma was there waiting for them. "I assume you're looking for me," she smiled evilly as the three readied themselves for the fight. "I don't think you'll want to hurt me Kuzco if you ever want to be human again" She again produced the vial of pink liquid "Because only I can tell you which of these will change you back." she pulled another potion from behind her back and oozed a sense of self satisfaction.

Sahara wasted no time and drew the key blade. She thrust it toward Yzma hitting her in the stomach and causing her to lose her grip on the vials. Kuzco raced to catch the potion as did the slightly winded Yzma. They both dove and wrestled for the vials. In the fray one of the bottles hit Yzma in the head shattering into a million pieces and pouring pink potion all over her. A large pink cloud of smoke erupted covering the ledge and everyone on it. Loud dark evil laughter came from the clouds as they began to clear and in the place of the once scary and evil Yzma was a cute fluffy white kitten.

"Aww!" Sahara squealed.

It mewed as Kuzco grabbed the potion bottle sitting next to it "I'll take that!" The Yzma kitten glared at him and, claws extended, pounced on his leg causing him to yelp in pain and drop the bottle. Sahara dove for the vial before it could fall off the edge of the palace. The kitten jumped toward Sahara's back but Pacha hurried to try and catch the fur ball. He missed by the slightest inch and Yzma, instead, dug her claws into Pacha's arm. He cried out and started to lose his balance. Kuzco tried to grab for him, but Pacha fell backwards off the ledge. Sahara gasped as the peasant man fell to what seemed like his untimely demise. Instead Pacha saved himself, catching one of the palaces ledges just in time. Scrambling to her feet, Sahara grabbed the second potion bottle and stepped on the Yzma kitty's tail to keep her from getting close enough to hurt the llama again.

"You have to go save Pacha!" Sahara yelled at Kuzco. The emperor nodded in agreement and ran past her and down the levels of the palace's features. Pacha's grip was slowly loosening and he had mere seconds away from falling. As he last finger slipped from the ledge, two llama hooves grabbed hold of hand and helped pull him back up. Sahara watched the two friends and smiled. While she was distracted the kitten turned and dug her claws into the girl's ankle. Sahara screamed and let go of the vial. It slid down the ledge came to a stop on a shelf a few feet above Pacha and Kuzco.

Pacha looked to the vial, to the two walls that led up to it, and then to Kuzco who nodded in understanding. Linking arms Pacha and Kuzco leaned against each other's backs and walked up the wall. Once they reached the top, Pacha leaned on Kuzco's head and the llama stretched out his neck. Pacha extended his arm toward the vial and with less than three inches between it and his outstretched fingers it was swiped away by a white paw.

The evil Yzma kitten laughed maniacally, "I win!!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice.

"I don't think so," Sahara said as she descended from above and hit the cat in the head with the key blade knocking her out. The vial flew from her paw and into Pacha's outstretched hand. Sahara ran over to the peasant and the emperor and helped them both up on to the ledge. She smiled and hugged them both. Pacha and Kuzco laughed and hugged each other then realized their uncharacteristic actions were being watched by the Sahara. They both pulled away from each other trying to look nonchalant.

"Uh, here, let me get that for you," Pacha said, handing Kuzco the vial of pink potion.

The emperor accepted the bottle with a relieved smile "Well, see you on the other side."

* * *

A few hours later Pacha and Sahara sat in the throne room waiting for the emperor. Since he had been returned to his human state, Kuzco had taken it upon himself to fix the messes Yzma had made while he was away and the messes he himself had made over his time as ruler. He was currently setting things straight with a man he had thrown out a window for throwing off his "groove." Pacha let out a heavy worried sigh and stared at the small model of his own home that he had picked up off the floor. His looks shifted from the house in his hand to the empty spot at the very top of the model of his village in the middle of the room. As she stood up, Sahara smiled and gave the llama herder a reassuring pat on the arm. She left the room and headed outside just as Kuzco entered the room.

Outside of the palace, Sahara found a seat and stared out over the village watching the Peruvian sun set. A few minutes later she felt someone's behind her. She turned to see the emperor and smiled.

"Can I sit here?" he asked her.

"Hey, it's your palace," Sahara told him with a smirk as Kuzco sat down. "You can sit where ever you want to."

"So, how's having all the crazy key blade power going for you?" Kuzco asked her in his usual sarcastic tone.

Sahara shrugged, looking down at the large key on her hip. "I've had to deal with worse things."

Kuzco nodded "So, I take it you're leaving soon"

"Yeah, I just need to get back and take care of some things."

Kuzco sighed and more silence passed between the two, "You sure you can't stay for a little while longer?"

"You should know, key blade master on a mission," she said. "And besides, if I stayed here, you wouldn't even notice me. You're gonna be too busy running the empire in your new caring kind of way."

"Yeah, but I'll miss you if you go," Kuzco admitted. Sahara stood up, not sure why the idea of leaving seemed so difficult all of a sudden. She took a few steps away, crossed her arms over her chest and stared off into the sky.

"Listen, Sahara," Kuzco began. Sahara turned to face him, smiling despite her own feelings. "I'm still not good at this kind of stuff, but I really wanted to, well, to thank you, for everything. For stopping Yzma, for helping me and Pacha get through this. I mean, we couldn't have done it with out you."

"I'm sure you could have managed somehow," Sahara mumbled.

"And I, well, I have something for you."

Sahara raised her eyebrow in confusion "Kuzco, you didn't have to do anything for me. I was happy to help."

"No," the emperor insisted. "This is for you." He opened his fist to reveal a small, blue-black, heart shaped crystal. It glittered ever so slightly in the sunlight. The middle seemed to hold its own an internal glow. The gemstone had a silver 'Y' engraved on it and it hung from a long silver chain.

Sahara suddenly remembered the ulterior motive she had had through the entire adventure and repressed the urge to cry. Kuzco unhooked the chain and fastened it around Sahara's neck. She smiled as he pulled away "Thank you so much. I don't deserve this at all." To Kuzco's surprise, the girl suddenly wrapped her arms around him. Unsure of what to do, the emperor patted her lightly on the back before sighing and hugging Sahara back.

"You know what?" Kuzco whispered in her ear, "Back in the jungle, I really was flirting with you."

Sahara looked up at him with a smirk despite the subtle tears threatening to fall from her green eyes "You're not making this any easier, you jerk!"

"I'm not trying to," he admitted.

Sahara finally pulled away from him, "I really need to get going. Hurry up and build your summer home so I have a legit excuse to come back."

Hugging the emperor one more time, Sahara turned from him and walked down the stairs leading from the palace.

Running a hand across her face, Sahara made her way through the damp an deserted streets of the royal city. A few steps later she saw blue-gray smoke coming from a nearby alleyway. In a puff of smoke the lord of the dead appeared before Sahara.

"Did ya miss me, babe?" Hades asked her flashing his car sales man smile. Sahara simply glared at him, thinking momentarily of smacking him with the key blade. "You okay?"

"I'm fine!" she shouted, "I got the heart can we leave?"

Hades rolled his eyes, "Sheesh, I was just asking!" He paused for a second, his gray eyes resting on the blade at Sahara's hips "What is that?"

"A key blade…" Sahara said, furrowing her eyebrows at him, "Why?"

"Where did you get that?"

"It kind of found me." Hades continued to look at her strangely. Sahara began to feel uncomfortable "What?"

"It's nothing." Hades replied quickly. He snapped his fingers and the two disappeared from the marketplace.


	3. Tale as Old as Time

(A/N: I can't stop laughing about you guys actually reviewing this story. I don't think any of you have any idea how happy it makes me, how inspired it makes me and just how freaking cool I think it is. Thank you all tons! In honor of all the review-ness I thought I'd talk back to you all (because I know I think it's cool when authors talk back to me when I review ) Starting all the way back at the first review...

**FallenWraith:** I'm so glad you like the way I describe things. That's really one of the things I try to work on the hardest. I love it when I can see what someone's thinking when they're writing so I try to do that for the readers of my stories. And strangely Hades is one of the easiest characters for me to keep in canon I mean, you just have to write him like he's a used car salesman .

**dglsprincess105: **Hades has been my favorite villain for a long time and this story was just kind of an excuse for me to write a story featuring him that didn't have to do with the Herc. Movie.

**Fairly Odd New Yorker **Aww, you reviewed twice! That makes me uber-happy. As I said before, got much love for that blue flame headed deity even when he annoys me (the curse of crazy muses). As for your suggestions, you shall be happy with this chapter me thinks. I've been planning a Beauty and the Beast chapter since the beginning. I like the idea of Pride Rock a lot, but that might require some transmogrification of Sahara (ie: turning her into a lion or something) and I'm not too sure I want to do that. We'll see, I might change my mine :-)

**singergirl22: **Another double reviewer! Yay! Kingdom Hearts is the best game ever (I bought the entire PS2 system just for the game) You have to beat it so you can get ready to play KH2 which comes out next year! I've been contemplating Little Mermaid for a while now, but I'm not quite sure how I'd do it yet (have to work on that a bit more) Nemo's a good idea too. I hadn't even though of that one. And as much as I'd love to use Pirates, I'm limiting this to animated movies like in the KH games.

**Guille van Cartier** I am honored that you reviewed my story, especially if you don't usually review stuff. I'm so glad you like the idea and what you said about the idea made me extremely happy. I know this kind of story has been done to death but the fact that you think that my take on it is good makes me so happy! I will definitely go read your story when I get a chance (it has Clopin in it and I love him!) Just wait 'till I get to my HboND section (lots of Clopin ) Hey, there's nothing wrong with taking up space, blahblahblahblahblahblah...okkay, I'll stop now

**Theodore Hawkwood **Like I said earlier, I'm trying to limit this to animated features, but thanks for the suggestion

**Soul Reaver: **Ah, the question I've been waiting for. And I can't really give you a definite answer. I keep calling this more of a Disney story so I'm totally avoiding the final fantasy characters, but when it comes to Sora and co. that's another story. I mention Sora a lot in this chapter when Sahara learns some more of what she needs to know but for now, I've got no real plans for her to meet up with anybody. But this stories evolved so much from my original idea that who knows.

All right, I'm done now, I swear. Thanks for reviewing everybody and please keep it up. You get me through the day. Well not really, but the more you review the more I want to write!)

**Chapter 3: Tale As Old As Time**

In another poof, Sahara and Hades appeared in the throne room of the Underworld. Having stayed conscious through the transport this time, Sahara felt slightly dizzy and collapsed into the nearest black upholstered chair.

"You sure you're okay, kid?" Sahara looked up at the God and tired not to glare.

"I told you, I'm fine" she insisted.

"Cause it seems to me like you got a bit too wrapped up in your work there," he smirked.

She turned her full glare power on "Can we just drop it, please?"

"Fine, fine," Hades threw his hands up in defeat, "So you ready to go? Next mission calls."

Sahara looked at him in confusion, "I don't even get a break or anything?"

"Nope, sorry, got a tight schedule to keep to" he informed her.

"You're such a slave driver!" Sahara yelled as Hades waved his hands and sent her off again.

"Well, I'll just have to deal with the guilt of that," he mumbled to himself.

Before Hades could take another step a large puff of green and purple appeared before him.

"I missed her again!" Maleficent exclaimed as the smoke disappeared.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that Mal. Just sent her off." Hades apologized, "I figured keeping her around here too long would make it harder for her to leave. She's getting a little resilient."

"She defeated Yzma as you may well know," Maleficent informed him, "But that truly is of no concern to us. The woman knew the risks when we informed her of what was to come. She was not to try and kill the girl but she disobeyed. We'll just have to see how the others villains react upon meeting your girl. She holds more power than we know and the key blade that is now in her possession will help her realize that power. Do not let her get too attached to the peoples of these worlds. We can't afford to lose her allegiance."

"Hey, I've got her on contract. She's not going to defy me."

"Ah, but I also recall you saying the exact same thing about Megara. Just keep a close watch on her." Maleficent tapped her staff against the ground and in a flash was gone.

"You said the exact same thing about Megara" Hades mimicked the evil witch "Keep close watch on her. Sheesh, give me a break! I know how to handle this." The lord of the dead secretly wished he had had enough guts to tell Maleficent exactly how he felt but dismissed the idea and headed off to the work he needed to complete.

* * *

Once again Sahara fell unconscious during transport for the Underworld to her next mission. She slowly opened her eyes and vowed that feeling dizzy and staying awake was much better than this. She propped herself up on her elbows and looked around the room she had landed in. Sahara determined that she was in someone's bedroom, a room that hadn't been used too often, in a small quaint cottage or farm house. She quickly realized she was laying on a bed and had obviously been deliberately placed there by something other than Hades' transport. She also realized that Hades had once again supplied her with a change of wardrobe. This time she wore a long sleeved white blouse, a light red bodice and a matching red skirt. As she continued surveying the room the door began to open slowly.

In the doorway stood a short stout man with thinning white hair. "Oh, I see you're awake." he said in a caring voice, despite the underlying worry in his tone. Sahara knew something bad had happened here that had nothing to do with her.

"Uh, yeah, did you bring me here?" she asked him.

"Yes I did. I saw you outside and I figured something must have happened to you during all the commotion outside."

Sahara's furrowed her eyebrow, "The commotion? What happened?"

The man sighed, walked over to the side of the bed and sat down, "It's a bit of a long story. You see, the villagers, they got this idea in their heads that the beast in the castle up on the hill was evil and they decided to do something about it. It's really all Gaston's fault, but I'm not sure if you know any of this already."

Sahara shook her head, "No actually, I just got into town. My name's Sahara, by the way."

"They call me Maurice," he told her "I'm sorry if I seem a bit scatterbrained right now. You see my daughter, Belle, is very good friends with the Beast and she went out to check on him a while ago. She hasn't come back yet and I'm getting worried"

"I can go see what I can find out." Sahara suggested "It's the least I can do for your hospitality. I'm rested up now and they might be more willing to tell me what's going on if they just think I'm part of the crowd."

Maurice's eyes grew wide "Would you really? I'd be so appreciative."

"Like I said, it's the least I can do. I'll head into town right now and talk to them." Sahara told him standing up.

Maurice quickly led Sahara through the house and to the front door. "Just follow that path and you'll get to the village in no time. Please, make sure my Belle is all right."

"No problem," Sahara smiled trying to reassure the worried father. She took off down the road to see what stupid thing Gaston was doing now.

* * *

Much to Sahara's confusion, the small French village was completely deserted. All the shops were closed and locked up. Sahara continued down the street until she reached the town square. To her right was a tavern; the only building in the whole town with any lights on. Sahara raced across the square and pulled at the handle of the large wooden door. It opened and she walked in the deserted building.

All around the room were empty tankers and overturned chairs. It looked like a small hurricane had reeked havoc on the place. "Hello?" Sahara called, hoping that maybe someone was around at the very least trying to clean up the horrendous mess. She checked around the tavern one more time before determining that whomever had been here was long gone. As she headed for the door she suddenly heard a faint cry "Can somebody help me?" Sahara followed the source of the voice to a closed door next to the bar.

"Hey," Sahara said trying to turn the knob and finding it had been locked "Is somebody in there?"

"Yes! Can you get me out of here?" a female voice behind the door tiredly pleaded.

"I wish I could but the doors locked and I don't know how to open it. Who are you and who put you in there?"

"I'm Belle," the girl told her "They were after the Beast and when I threatened to go warn him they locked me in here and headed for the castle. Someone has to help the Beast."

"I can try, but I don't know how much anyone will listen to me." Sahara offered.

"You can take my horse, Philippe, he's outside and he'll get you there faster than if you just walked. Please hurry and warn the Beast before it's too late."

"Okay, don't worry, Belle, I'll be back soon!" Sahara shouted as she ran out of the tavern.

Once she got through the door Sahara frantically looked around for Belle's horse. She ran to the left of the tavern and found a hitching post with a large Clydesdale horse tied to it. Sahara slowly approached the steed. "Philippe, you have to help me help Belle and the Beast." The horse looked at her with freighted eyes but allowed her to approach him. Sahara un-harnessed Philippe, and petted the horse's flanks before pulling herself up onto his back. "Take me to the castle!" With no hesitation the horse took off at full speed gallop toward the Beast's castle.

* * *

After a short fast paced journey, Sahara and Philippe emerged from the woods and at the edge of the bridge leading to the castle. The sounds of a large scale battle could be heard as the horse galloped across the bridge. Sahara jumped down from Philippe's back and ran toward the large open door of the castle. The interior of the ornate building had been transformed into a small battle zone. Sahara soon realized that the villagers weren't battling palace servants, but rather the inanimate objects of the castle brought to life. Ducking and weaving through the battle grounds, Sahara soon reached the grand staircase of the castle. She ran up the stairs to her right searching for the elusive master of the castle.

The West wing of the Beast's castle was only a bit quieter than the foyer and ball room where the battle was taking place. Sahara eased open the large ornate door and slowly entered the main chamber. The room was in a total disarray. Papers and books littered the floor, tattered furniture stood on wobbly legs, and painting and tapestries shred in a fit of rage hung from the walls. Sahara continued surveying the place until her eyes finally fell on a large brown creature in a purple robe.

She cleared her throat pointedly and the creature turned slightly to face her. His golden eyes were filled with sadness as he looked over the intruder. "Come to finish off the Beast?" he asked in a deep gravely heartbroken voice.

"What? No! I'm here to help you!" Sahara insisted.

Sahara could tell he didn't believe her, "I don't need any help. Get out of here before you get hurt"

"Belle sent me!" Sahara blurted out.

"Belle couldn't have sent you," the Beast lamented looking sadder than Sahara had thought was possible "I let her go and she didn't come back. She doesn't care."

"Stop that!" Sahara yelled, causing the Beast to look at her strangely "Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Belle's in trouble, the villagers kidnapped her. You love her, she loves you, do something about it! Just stop mopping about here, kick some villager butt and save your girl!"

A small flame of rage appeared in the Beast's eyes "She's in trouble.." just as he was about to leap into action the doors of the West Wing burst open. In the doorway stood a small group of villagers led by a tall dark haired muscular built man.

"Well, well, what have we here?" the man asked with a smirk.

"Get out of here, Gaston. Leave the Beast alone," Sahara growled at the man.

He smirked even more, "My reputation precedes me I see, but I don't believe I've had the pleasure."

"I told you to get out of here," she quickly turned to the Beast, "This is your chance, take them out, we'll go save Belle!"

"Ah yes, Belle," Gaston interjected "Do you really think she still wants you Beast when she could have me? Think about it. She didn't even come to help you."

"Hey, no one asked the opinion of Gaston!" Sahara glared at him.

"But he's right," the Beast sighed dejectedly.

"No! No, he's not! Don't listen to a word that comes out of his stupid chauvinistic mouth!"

"All right, that's enough out of you!" one of the men said grabbing Sahara's right arm and twisting it behind her back.

Trying to pull her arm free of his grasp, Sahara screamed in frustration, "Let me go!" Thunder crashed outside of the castle, causing all the men to turn around. Sahara pulled her arm free, glared at them and took on a more defensive position

"Hey, get out of here girl," a short peasant at Gaston's side called, "You don't know who you're dealing with."

"This is no place for you!" another piped in.

"I'm not going to let you hurt him, no matter what he thinks!" Sahara yelled back, defiantly.

"Who said anything about hurting him?" Gaston grinned evilly "We have much better plans for your pal here. Now step aside."

"No!" Before Sahara could say anything else, three of the men had grabbed her.

"Get her out of the way" Gaston bellowed. Sahara kicked and screamed as the men drug her down the hall.

"This room'll work," one of them said, "throw her in and lock it up." The men did just that. Sahara was thrown to the ground in the closest room. Then, as she scrambled to her feet, they slammed the door and locked it shut.

"No!" Sahara screamed, pounding her fists against the door in frustration. "Let me out!" Knowing her cries were futile, Sahara turned from the door and ran to the window in the far corner of the room. She pulled up on the sill with all her might, but it refused to budge. Frustrated and growing increasingly angrier, Sahara paced the dark blue carpeted floor. As she made her fifth pass of the four poster bed in the middle of the room, she caught site of something under the mattresses. Sahara dropped to her hands and knees and peered under the bed. Within moments she once again held the key blade. "Where were you 10 minutes ago" she grumbled at the key.

New weapon in hand, Sahara turned toward the locked door. She clutched the handle in both hands and pointed the key toward the door. A white light formed at the base of the blade near her hands and traveled down the key until it reached the very tip. Sahara closed her eyes as she was nearly blinded by the bright pure light emitting from the key. When she opened them again the room still held an light eerie that slowly faded away. Where the wooden door to the room had once stood there was nothing. After a few seconds of staring at her destructive handy work, Sahara stepped through the doorway and took off down the hallway.

Halfway down the hall, Sahara heard voices. She pressed her back up against the wall and strained to listen.

The first voice sounded much like a pompous English man. "Are they all gone?"

"I believe so, but they took the master with them," an older gentler voice answered with a hint of sadness "Oh, I can't even begin to think of what they're doing to him."

"And with Belle gone, we have no chance of breaking ze spell," a depressed French voice commented. Unsure of who or what was talking, but knowing they obviously weren't on Gaston's side, Sahara saw her chance.

She took a deep breath and turned into the room the voices were coming from. 'Okay, I couldn't have just made all that up' Sahara told herself looking around the seemingly empty room.

Sahara heard someone's throat clear and then looked down. Suppressing a gasp, Sahara stared at the three "inanimate" objects at her feet. The candlestick, clock, and teapot before her looked just as confused as Sahara did. "Uh.. Hi," she managed a small smile and wave.

"Can we help you mademoiselle?" the candelabra, who owned the French voice, asked.

"I.. You..uh.."

The clock rolled his eyes "Out with it already"

"Oh hush, Cogsworth." the teapot scolded him, "It's all right deary, we're not going to hurt you."

"I, I came here to try and stop the villagers. I was sent by Belle, but I guess I was too late," she rambled trying to find the right words.

The three objects piped up at the mention of Belle "So, you know where she is!" the candlestick asked.

"She was trying to stop Gaston and the others and they locked her up in the tavern. What'd they do with the Beast?"

"They took him with them," the teapot lamented.

Sahara thought for a moment, "We have to stop them! We can rally all the other 'things' of the house and attack them where they live. I know none of you are in the highest spirits, but if we attack now we might be able to surprise them."

"And how do you plan on stopping them," the pessimistic clock asked her "beat them all senseless with that large key?"

"Actually, yes," Sahara shot back at him with a smirk.

"She's got you there Cogsworth," the candlestick laughed, "It looks like that's the only plan we have. What is your name anyway, miss?"

"I'm Sahara."

"A beautiful name. I am Lumiere, that is Mrs. Potts, and the overgrown pocket watch over there is Cogsworth," he informed her.

"All right, good to know," Sahara smiled, "Let's go rally the troops."

* * *

Anyone who, by chance, had been strolling through the woods on that very night would have been met by a truly strange sight. First, they would have seen a girl riding on a horse, nothing odd about that. But behind her, sitting on the horse, was a candlestick, having a very animated conversation with the rider. Next the traveler would have been met by an army of household appliances, dishes, and other miscellaneous oddities as they followed behind the horse and girl. By this point, the traveler would either believe his or herself insane or vow never to have second helpings of crème Brule again and be on their way.

Once both parties had reached the edge of the woods, they began their careful journey into town. Sahara made a pit stop at Maurice's cabin to let him know the situation at hand and then she instructed the inhabitants of the Beast's castle. Sahara, Philippe and Lumiere rode ahead into the town while the other's waited for their signal. Jumping down from Philippe's back, Lumiere in one hand and the key blade in her other, Sahara snuck past the large crowd gathered in the town square. All the peasants formed a tight circle around what looked like a large cage. They jeered and threw things toward the center of the circle.

"They've got the master," Lumiere whispered to Sahara.

She quickly shushed him "I know," she whispered back "but we need to save Belle first." After one more quick scan to make sure no one was watching, Sahara eased open the door and entered the tavern.

Looking around the room, Sahara set Lumiere down on the ground next to her "She's over here," she told him as she raced for the door in the back of the room.

"Hey, no one's suppose to be in here!" a voice called from behind Sahara. She turned around and found the diminutive peasant who had been in Gaston's Beast capturing mob earlier.

"Look, Lefou, we don't have to do this the hard way. Just let me get Belle and you won't have to get hurt."

"Lady, you're the one who's going to get hurt!" he rolled up his sleeves and advanced toward her. Lefou took two more steps before letting out a howl of pain. He jumped in the air clutching his hindquarters and revealing a laughing Lumiere. Before he could scream or run around anymore, Sahara hit him in the head with the key blade rendering him unconscious.

"You weren't kidding about beating people senseless with that thing" Sahara laughed before turning back to the locked door.

"Belle! Are you still in there?"

"Sahara? Yeah, I'm here." her voice was a mixture of relief and hope.

"Stand back, I think I can get you out." Sahara grabbed the key blade again like she had during her own escape. The white light began it's travels down the blade before once again erupting from the end and shooting straight at the door. Opening her eyes, Sahara found that the key blade had completely obliterated the door. Sahara raced to the doorframe and found an unharmed girl with chestnut brown hair. Belle took a few steps forward and adjusted her light blue dress.

"You're the key blade master!" Belle exclaimed in slight shock

"Guess my reputation precedes me again," Sahara smiled.

Belle smiled as well, "What happened? Did you help the Beast?"

"I got to the castle in the middle of the big battle and tried to help, but Gaston and his idiot squad stopped me. They've got the Beast outside right now." Sahara explained quickly.

"We have to save him! Did you bring any backup?"

"Actually, I did" Sahara stepped to her left to reveal her candlestick companion "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go rally the troops. Hold on a sec." With that she raced for the door and back out into the town square.

"I'm so glad you're alright, belle," Lumiere told the girl with a smile.

"I'm glad you're all alright too," Belle paused for a second then looked back at the candelabra "What did she mean rally the troops?" Before she could get her reply, a loud whistling noise pierced the air. Belle grabbed Lumiere and ran for the door.

Belle gasped at the scene unfolding before her. It was not completely unlike what Sahara had seen when she had first reached the Beast's castle. The villagers and the servants of the castle of the Beast were locked in a battle to end all battles. Having obviously been taken by surprise, the villagers were losing badly and getting the daylights beaten out of them by the objects of the castle. On one side of the battle field was Gaston defending himself as best he could but quickly losing his temper. On the other was Sahara fighting her way through the crowd toward the cage holding the Beast.

Belle pushed through the melee until she reached Sahara's side "Need a little help?" she smirked pushing away the nearest villager.

Sahara smiled and the two continued their chaotic b-line toward the Beast. Finally reaching the abnormally large cage, Sahara stretched her arms and the key out in front of her. The, now familiar, white light moved faster this time and shot directly to the lock holding the door close. After another blinding flash, that seemed to stop everyone in their tracks, the lock was gone and the Beast burst forth from the cage. He looked at Sahara quickly in thanks and then snarled at the villagers who had been mistreating him.

"You won't get away so easy," someone bellowed from across the square. Sahara turned to see Gaston looking angrier than ever. In his hands was a large shotgun aimed at the Beast.

"No!" Sahara cried as she raced across the square. As Gaston began to pull the trigger Sahara knocked the gun from his hand with the key blade.

"I tried to play nice with you girl, but key blade or not I've had enough of you." Before Sahara could react, Gaston pulled back his fist and sent it careening toward her face.

The sheer force of the blow caused the edges of Sahara's vision to blur. She was sent reeling backwards and lost her grip on the key blade. "Leave her alone Gaston!" Sahara heard Belle yell. The woman jumped on Gaston's back and tried futilely to pull him down.

"I've had enough of you as well," he hollered throwing Belle to the ground "Why'd I even waste my time pursuing you?"

As Sahara began her struggle to stand up, she heard the sound of a rifle being loaded; Gaston had gotten his gun back. Sahara cringed as she stood up and looked face to face with the insane hunter. "End of the line key blade master." he smirked

Everything moved to quickly for anyone to really process until far later. Before Gaston could begin his attack, the Beast ran up and grabbed the gun. The two struggled for a few moments until there was a loud 'bang.' Gaston stepped back as the Beast let out a blood curdling howl. Sahara and Gaston both turned in shock at the creature as it hit the ground.

"No!" Belle cried, racing toward the fallen Beast, "You monster!" she yelled at Gaston.

The man stood frozen, more upset by Belle's remarks then by the deed he had just committed. Sahara quickly shook off her own shock and picked the key blade off the ground beside her. Gaston turned back to her just in time to receive the impact of the silver key across his face. He took a few steps backwards and glared at Sahara, a fierce rage burned in the girls eyes as she hit him again and again. Soon the once proud hunter lay in an unconscious mass on the ground. Sahara fell to her knees in fatigue.

"Sahara?" a voice from behind her asked gently. Sahara looked up to see Belle, "What was that? You just took Gaston down by yourself in less than a minute"

"I.. I don't know," Sahara replied still trying to catch her breath, " It wasn't me doing that, it was like some kind of force came over me."

"Well, I know that took a lot out of you, but can you help me take the Beast back to the castle?"

Sahara smiled, "Of course." She stood slowly and followed Belle over to the Beast. Each girl carefully took one of his large furry arms and helped guide him toward one of the carriages left by the fleeing peasants. Sahara mounted Philippe with Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth riding along with her; Belle took the carriage and they were off through the woods.

* * *

The situation looked rather grim. Belle and Sahara had managed to get the Beast up to the west wing and on to one of the large sofas, but the amount of blood he had lost from the bullet wound was far too great. Belle sat by his side, holding his large furry paw; Sahara and the rest of the servants stood in the doorway, giving the two a bit of privacy.

"I'm just.." the Beast began through shaky breaths "I'm glad I got to see you one last time."

"Don't talk like that!" Belle gently scolded him as tears began to trickle down her face, "You'll be all right. We're together now, everything's going to be fine."

The Beast smiled as best as he could manage and reached his hand out toward Belle's face. She held it and continued to cry. The master of the castle took in a final deep breath as his eyes began to close.

"No! No! Please!" Belle whispered throwing herself into the warm fur of his chest, "Please don't leave me!" She continued to sob then as an afterthought added, "I..I love you."

Biting her lip to keep herself from crying as well, Sahara turned away just in time to see the final petal fall from the Beast's enchanted rose. As Belle continued to sob, a white light began to fill the room. Belle slowly pulled away as the Beast began rising into the air. His cape wrapped around him as he moved and a bright golden light radiated from his body. The light suddenly extinguished and the Beast was gone, replaced by a man who floated to the ground. Belle continued to stare, unsure of what had just happened to her Beast. The man slowly stood and looked at himself for what seemed like the first time in ages. The blonde haired man turned suddenly and looked Belle directly in the eyes.

"Belle! It's me!" He told her. Belle continued to stare at the man for a few more seconds before recognition dawned and a smile began to make it's way across her features.

"It is you!" she said standing up wrapping her arms around her newly reinvented Beast. The two continued to stare into each others eyes for a few more moments before they leaned closer to one another and shared a passionate first kiss. As they continued kissing, a blue light appeared around them and shot off through the castle. The light began transforming everything back into its original state. Sahara watched in awe as Lumiere, Mrs. Potts and Cogsworth were returned to their human forms right before her eyes.

The prince smiled enthusiastically at his old friends, "Lumiere, Cogsworth, oh Mrs. Potts," he shouted hugging each one in turn. He turned to Sahara and hugged her every bit as enthusiastically as he had his servants. Sahara grinned and tried to catch her breath as the prince continued on his enthusiastic love fest.

* * *

A few hours later a tiny portion of the earlier excitement had died down and the castle was back to being relatively quiet. Feeling slightly out of place among the celebration and rejoicing, Sahara had snuck off to the library to be by herself for a while. She grabbed a copy of an old fairy tale and was almost overcome by pure exhaustion when she heard footsteps coming towards her. Sahara sat up on the couch she had been slowly sliding down and turned toward the footsteps, "Hi."

"Hi," Belle smiled walking over and sitting on the opposite side of the couch, "Not the celebrating type?"

"I guess you could say that. I just feel a bit out of place," Sahara shrugged.

"So, actually, I was wondering what happened to the key blade."

Sahara shrugged again, "It just shows up when I need it and disappears when I'm done. I don't really know anything else beside that."

"Do you know the stories about it?" Belle asked.

"Not really," Sahara laughed at her own ignorance, "I just kinda got thrown into all this."

"Well, no one really knows where the key blade came from and we're only sure of some of the things it does, but we know it has a bit of a mind of its own. It's not going to take you over or anything, but it will help you discover any kind of power you already have inside of you. The first time any of us saw the blade was when it chose a boy name Sora as it's master. The villains captured myself and six other maidens of hearts so they could open the door to Kingdom Hearts. Sora battled all of the villains and restored order to our worlds. I'm pretty sure you know that all of the worlds you're visiting are disconnected from each other but there are loopholes when it comes to travel. After Sora's journey, some of the leaders of the various worlds formed a covenant to try and make sure the same things didn't happen again. But somehow all the creatures Sora and his friends defeated came back and began attacking us all again."

"But why am I here? Why isn't Sora saving you all again?" Sahara asked.

"After Sora's adventure, he just disappeared. No one knows for sure, but everyone believes he's trapped with in Kingdom Hearts. When the heartless began popping up again we realized the key blade would probably be tapping a new master and we began preparing. That's why everybody knows you. We figured out that once one keyblade master is taken out of commision, a new one is brought forth. The only thing that confuses me is that there was suppose to be someone else with you."

Sahara raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Belle began, getting ready for another long explanation "Even though the key blade and the key blade master have great power, the key blade has a habit of also calling upon someone to assist the master. For Sora it was two of King Mickey's most trusted friends, but I'm not sure who it's suppose to be for you. I guess they'll just show up when you need them.

Sahara sighed and ran her right hand through her auburn hair, "That's a lot to process, but I think I've got it."

"I'm sorry I couldn't be any more help," Belle lamented.

"Believe me, you've been a lot more help than most people," she smiled, internally cursing her favorite deity, "I guess I should be going."

"You don't have to go right away," she insisted, "You can stay here as long as you'd like."

"No, I really should be going," Sahara told her standing up and stretching, "Oh, I meant to ask you something."

"Go ahead," Belle said, standing as well.

"Um..since you know about all the key blade stuff, I figure you know about these heart things," she said holding the necklace she had received from Kuzco out to Belle, "You wouldn't happen to know where the one for this world is would you?"

Belle smiled, "I wondered if you were going to ask me about that," she reached into a small pocket on the left side of her dress, produced a heart and handed it to Sahara. The stone was much like the one she had gotten in Peru in coloring but instead of a 'y' engraved on it there was a 'g', "Here you go," Belle told her, "Just be careful with those, no one's quite sure what they do, but their either great good or great evil."

"I'll keep that in mind," Sahara smiled, hugging her new friend, "I'll come back soon. Maybe in time for the wedding" Belle smiled as well and the two girls left the library.

* * *

After saying goodbye to the inhabitants of the castle, especially Lumiere, Cogsworth, Mrs. Potts, the Prince, and Belle, Sahara left the Beast's castle on foot. A few minutes from the castle the familiar scent of sulfur and brimstone hit Sahara's nostrils, "On time as always," she taunted the omnipotent but invisible lord of the dead.

"Hey, you know me, love to keep to schedules," Hades said appearing before the girl, "Ready to get moving."

"Do I really have a choice?" Sahara asked looking somewhat wistfully at the sun setting behind the Beast's castle.

"Good point," and in a puff of smoke the deity and key blade master were gone.


	4. You Can Fly

(A/N: Welp, here we be again. Finally got myself another chapter. Think this has been my longest break thus far and with the holidays quickly approaching and the fact that I just got a new job at the Disney Store, well, we'll see what happens. I swear to you this shall not die! So we've got a new character in this chapter (the one Belle alluded to last chapter). You'll have to read to figure it out. He's all mysterious and stuff. This chapter's pretty long and there's a ton of talking, but I just had to get it all out of the way.

Since I haven't done this in a while: Disclaimer: I own nothing that is Disney's. Sahara's mine, the new character is mine and the story idea is mine but that's about it.

And it's time to talk to you all:

**Soul Reaver**: I totally forgot to tell you last time that I will try to read your fic soon. Sorry about that, I promise I'll get to it soon and review it (especially since you took the time to r/r mine ) Been thinking about L&S a lot. I think that might be the winner. So yay for you! Thank you for your review

**Singergirl22**: Yeah, I'm doing all animated here mainly because that's how the game went. Didn't mean to ruin any of the ending for you. Play the game and finish it, I command it

**FallenWraith**: Okkay, so just between you and me (because I'm trying to keep all of the worlds I'm going to a secret) HBoND has been one of my absolute must have in this story picks since before I began writing. I love it so much! Hold out a bit longer on that one okkay

**Fairly Odd New Yorker**: I love Lumiere too! Never thought of Oliver and Company, but it's a great idea. Might I just say, I love your penname and I'm not sure why)

**Chapter 4: You Can Fly**

"Home sweet home, babe," Hades remarked as the smoke cleared once again from the throne room of the underworld. Sahara snorted in response. "Oh come on, what's your problem now?"

"How come I had to wait to hear all of that from Belle," she asked folding her arms across her chest, "Why didn't you just tell me everything I needed to know when I first got here? What's the deal, Hades?"

Hades rolled his eyes, "Think about it, did you really need to know all that? If you had known that earlier would it have made a difference?"

Sahara paused, "I guess not, but that's not the point. I wanna know what exactly's going on."

"Look, we don't have time for this. You need to get moving."

Sahara glared at him, "Is there a reason you keep bringing me back here if you're just gonna send me away two seconds after I arrive?"

"What can I say?" Hades smirked, "I just adore hearing you complain about how bad a guy I am. Guess I get a kick out of it."

"Sarcasm noted," Sahara said, "but you're still not off the hook!"

Hades rolled his eyes again, "Whatever you say babe. Get going!" In yet another blue-black poof Sahara was gone.

* * *

Hard as she tried, Sahara could never seem remember much of what happened while she was transported from the Underworld to wherever Hades deemed worthy. She knew that during the times she fell unconscious and she dreamed but the dreams never seemed to stick with her. This time was different though; Sahara remembered falling for what seemed like hours and then suddenly being splashed in the face with cold salty water. She soon realized that she had somehow fallen into the ocean and was in the process of drowning. Struggling as much as she could, Sahara knew she was running out of time and oxygen. As her vision began to blur and her eyes to close, she barely made out the figures of three woman swimming toward her, before falling unconscious.

"Is she all right?"

"Why did we save her anyway?"

"She was drowning!"

"But look at her. She's just going to want to take Peter away from us like that Wendy-bird."

As the voices hit Sahara's ears, her eyes fluttered open. She began coughing and rolled over to her side. Realizing that her lungs were filled with seawater, she shakily pushed herself up onto her hands and elbows and continued coughing. Sahara slowly realized that the "dream" she had had earlier had in fact been reality. Pushing her damp hair out of her face, Sahara took in a few deep breaths, "wha..what happened?"

"You tried to drown. We saved you, "one of the voices from earlier informed her.

Sahara laughed at the implication that she had "tried" to drown. She cocked her head to her left to see her saviors for the first time. At the bank of the lagoon next to Sahara were the three girls; one blonde, one brunette and one red head. Nothing was out of the ordinary about the scantly clad girls except for that instead of legs each possessed a large beautiful fish tail. "Mermaids.." Sahara mumbled in astonishment, "I'm in Neverland!"

"Yup!" the red head smiled, "But who are you?"

"Why did you fall from the sky?" the brunette asked.

"Why are you here?" the blonde piped in.

Sahara's head began to spin under the rapid fire questioning, "Um.. I'm Sahara, I was sent here, but I guess I missed land by a couple feet. I'm here to find something."

"What?" the blonde asked.

Sahara was getting sick of questions, but explained anyway, "It's kind of complicated, but I think I need to find Peter Pan"

"Maybe she's here to save Peter from that Wendy Bird he brought back with him. He's definitely in danger from her," the brunette suggested to the other girls agreement.

Sahara laughed and stood up. As she spoke she began wringing out her black tank top and pants, "Who knows. Maybe I'll go after her just for you girls."

The mermaids smiled evilly, "Well, you better hurry up then. You should go find them."

"I don't know where they are," Sahara admitted to them.

"See that trail to the left?" the brunette said behind Sahara toward a small dirt path, "Follow it until you get to Blind Man's Bluff. It's a big flat place right next to the trail."

"Once you get there," the blonde continued, "make a left and follow the next trail until you reach a creek."

"Watch out for the crocodile, and cross the creek. Follow it along the bank until you reach a big dead tree. You can't miss it," the red head finished.

"Sounds good," Sahara smiled trying to remember all of their instructions, "Thank you guys, for everything!"

"Good luck!" the blonde called waving after Sahara as she began her trek.

"Tell Peter we sent you so he doesn't think you're a spy or a pirate," the red head waved as well.

"Bye!" the Brunette yelled.

Sahara waved to the three and then turned down the path they had instructed her to follow. The forests of Neverland were more amazing than anything Sahara had ever seen. To even try to describe them would do a great injustice to the spectacular foliage. It would also be relatively futile because every person who visits Neverland sees it in his or her own way. For Sahara, everything revolved around bright and changing colors. Though many of the trees were normal pines and oaks, they all grew with their own distinct personality. Their colors ranged from dark green to bright purple to light blue to deep red. The sky above Sahara also seemed to have a life of its own and changed every time she looked up at it. Fascinated by the vibrant and bizarre colors, Sahara almost missed her turn at Blind Man's Bluff. Following the mermaids' instructions, she turned to the left and traveled until she reached Crocodile Creek. After careful searching revealed no ticking crocodile's presence, Sahara quickly crossed a fallen tree that served as a makeshift bridge over the water.

* * *

As she followed the banks of the stream, Sahara began hearing voices. Not sure whether they were friendly or not, she decided to hide and spy on the owners of the voices. Sahara quickly ran over to a think clump of bushes off to the side of the river under a tall pine tree. Crouching down, Sahara suddenly realized she had made a huge mistake. She hadn't noticed the rope trap lying on the ground where her right foot now stood. Sahara yelped as the rope tightened around her ankle and pulled her up into the tree. The blood rushed to Sahara's head as she swung back and forth under the thick foliage. Quickly tucking in her shirt to prevent it from falling down over her head, Sahara tried to pull herself up enough to reach the rope at her foot and try to loosen it. She soon realized her efforts were useless and that the face plant into the ground that she would have received had things gone as planned was not a pleasant idea. Letting her body fall back completely upside down, Sahara crossed her arms over her chest and resigned to swinging.

Soon the voices that had caused this entire fiasco hit Sahara's ears again, "I heard something this way!"

"No, it was this way," another young voice called.

"You don't know what you're talking about, it's this way!"

Rolling her eyes, Sahara realized who she was dealing with and decided that she wasn't going to get down unless she resolved the commotion herself. "No!" she shouted, "It was this way!"

There was a brief silence before the first voice began shouting again, "That's what I said!" This exclamation was quickly followed by the thundering of footsteps through the jungle. Soon, from her upside down tree top observatory, Sahara could see a handful of young boys storming toward her. Each one wore an outfit that resembled a different woodland creature save for two wearing only their night cloths.

"Where'd it come from?" a large boy in a bear suit asked as the boys began scanning the area for the source of the distress call.

Finally a boy wearing a top hat and large glasses looked up into the tree, "My word," he began as the other boys all turned to look in the direction of Sahara.

"Hi boys," she said with a small wave, despite the pounding in her head from hanging upside down.

"It's a lady!" Two boys, who were obviously twins, exclaimed at the same time as they all continued staring.

"Well, don't just stand there, get her down," the boy in the fox suit barked. The boys all ran around confused for a few moments before starting to run into each other. The bear suited boy fell to the ground and ended up landing in front of the spot where the rope supporting Sahara was tethered.

"I'll get her down," he said pulling the rope from its anchored spot.

"No!" Sahara and the other boys shouted. By this time it was too late and the large boy had let go of the rope. Sahara was sent crashing head first into the ground, landing with a resounding 'thud.'

The boys rushed to her side as she pulled her face out of the dirt. A few unladylike curses and attempts to spit the dirt from her mouth later, Sahara sat up and looked at the boys.

"Way to go, Cubby," the fox boy said smacking the bear boy in the back of the head and turning back to Sahara, "Sorry about that miss, he's an idiot."

Sahara bit back a smile as she noticed the saddened look on Cubby's face, "Hey, it's okay. No harm done, really. Cubby did good, he found the absolute quickest way to get me down." She smiled at the bear boy and he beamed at the praise. As Sahara tried to get up, the eight boys all tried to help her, "Guys, don't fuss. I can get up by myself."

"Who are you?" Sahara spun around to see the littlest boy out of the group. He wore light pink pajamas and hugged a teddy bear close to him. Sahara couldn't help but smile.

"Michael, don't be rude. She just fell from a tree," the top hatted boy told the young one.

"It's fine," she assured the boy before turning to Michael, "Michael, I'm Sahara." she told him. "Who are all of you guys?" she asked the other boys, though fully aware of who they were.

"I'm Slightly," the boy in the fox suit informed Sahara, "The skunk over there is Tootles. He doesn't talk yet." The little skunk waved shyly at Sahara who waved back.

"Nibs" the boy in the rabbit suit who had yet to speak told her.

"They already told you I'm Cubby, and I'm really sorry!" the boy still looked upset that he'd hurt Sahara.

"And I told you, Cubby, I'm fine!" she assured him

"We're the twins," the two boys in raccoon suits piped in at the same time.

"I am John Darling," the boy in the top hat said with a slight bow, "and you've already met my younger brother, Michael."

"It's very nice to meet you all," Sahara smiled.

"So, how'd you get here?" Slightly asked, "Did Peter bring you?"

"No, actually, I came on my own. I'm on this quest and I need to talk to Peter, but I want to help you guys battle pirates and Indians and do all that kind of fun stuff."

"Well, we'll help you find Peter," Nib told her, "He's out with Wendy right now and we were just on our way to find them."

"He has to tell us what the key thing we found is," the twins said, their simultaneous speaking starting to creep Sahara out.

Suddenly she realized what they had said, "Wait, you found a big key? Can I see it?"

The boys looked between each other, "Is that part of your quest?" Cubby asked, "Are you suppose to find the key?"

"Yes!"

"We took it back home. If we go there, Peter will eventually show up," Slightly explained.

Sahara smiled, "Sounds like a good plan to me."

"Then let's go!" the boys all yelled. Before Sahara knew what was going on, she was being pulled off through the woods by the Lost Boys and the Darlings.

* * *

Meanwhile in the ocean on the other side of Neverland, a blood red pirate ship sat in waiting. The captain of the vessel, a tall, slender, elegantly dressed, middle-aged man, paced in frustrated impatience as he waited for a crewmember to report back to him. There was a knock at the door and the captain turned toward it, "Well, get in here!"

The door opened slowly revealing a short squat man with thinning white hair and wire rim spectacles. He timidly stepped into the room wringing a red bandana between his hands, "Good afternoon cap'in" the man smiled.

"What is it Mr. Smee?" the captain asked his first mate growing more impatient, "Is the scout back yet?"

"Yes sir, I'll get him right way, sir," Smee saluted quickly and ran out the door. The captain rolled his eyes and began rubbing his temples as his frustration continued to mount.

Before he could say anything else to himself another pirate appeared at the door, "You wanted to see me Captain Hook, sir," The young man said entering the room.

"What did you find out lad?"

"She's here and I know where they're headed," he said simply.

"She! It's a girl!" Hook rubbed his chin in deep thought, "This could indeed work to our advantage," he smiled evilly toward his crewmember, "Good work Mr. Cooper. We'll carry forth the plan in a few hours. Tell Mr. Smee to inform the crew."

"Aye Aye, Captain" the young man said saluting the captain and exiting the cabin.

* * *

Before long, Sahara and the Lost Boys had reached the entrance to the boys' hideout. A large ancient oak tree stood in the middle of the clearing and gave no indication of the home below it. "So, what do we do?" Sahara asked lightly touching the grayed bark of the dead tree.

"You stand over here," Nibs said, directing Sahara toward the west side of the tree, "And when that branch of the tree opens, you jump in."

"O..kay" Sahara was unsure of what was about to happen but had no other option. One of the boys pulled a lever and all the branches of the tree lifted up. The boys all jumped in and after a second of hesitation, Sahara followed suit. The opening closed behind her leaving Sahara in a freefall through darkness. A few seconds later, Sahara's journey ended as she finally fell out of the tunnel and landed unceremoniously on the floor of the hideout. None of the boys seemed to notice and continued wrestling and fighting around the room. Sahara stood up and brushed herself off.

"Come on, Sahara!" Slightly yelled, "Help us take these guys down!"

"No, Sahara, help me!" Cubby called from underneath a pile of the Twins and Tootles.

Sahara smiled but before she could answer she felt something pull at her pant leg. She turned around to see Michael "Sahara, will you tell us a story?"

"Yeah, tell us a story" the other boys all piped in stopping their fighting and forming a circle around Sahara.

Grinning nervously, Sahara wasn't sure how to reply, "I'm afraid I'm not very good at telling stories. Maybe I can try later. Actually I'd like to see that key you guys found."

"Oh right!" the boys all quickly ran around the hideout throwing things in different directions searching for the elusive object. Sahara ducked as a baseball came flying toward her head. As she stood back up she finally noticed the large silver key propped up against the wall of the only corner the boys hadn't touched. Continuing to duck miscellaneous objects, Sahara made her way across the room and grabbed the key.

"I told you guys it was over there," Slightly exclaimed once he noticed Sahara with the key.

The boys once again encircled the key blade master, "What's it do anyway?" Cubby asked.

"I use it to beat up bad guys," Sahara explained, swinging the key through the air for good measure. The boys all "ooh-ed" and "aw-ed" at the display. Suddenly, as the demonstration continued, a familiar rooster cry broke through the air.

"Peter and Wendy are back!" the boys yelled, excited for the return of their leader.

The rooster calls continued to draw closer until the main entry way opened revealing a boy dressed in all green. He looked about thirteen years old with red hair and a childlike elfin face and ears. Behind him stood a young girl in a blue nightgown. Her brown ringletted hair was pulled back and her blue eyes looked at Peter with a silent kind of admiration. The boys all rushed toward the newcomer and another wresting match ensued. Sahara stood away from the battleground, placing the key at her side. Soon the battle stopped and Peter Pan took up his leadership position once again, "Any news to report boys?"

"Neverland's pretty quite right now, Peter," Nibs explained.

"But we found her," Slightly said pointing to Sahara. Peter turned toward the girl who waved at him with a smile.

Sahara was slightly surprised as the boy levitated toward her. With no regard for personal space, Peter gave her a once over, "Who are you?"

"Um.. I'm Sahara."

"Sahara? Well, that's a funny name," he told her.

"Oh, and Peter's better?" Sahara asked while both laughing and feeling a bit of the anger she knew would arise from meeting the immature flying boy.

Peter gave Sahara an awkward glare, but before he could say anything a golden light flew past his head. Sahara ducked as the light tried to dive-bomb her. A furious amount of ringing sounded through the room as the creature attempted to hit Sahara again. "Hey Tinkerbell, stop that!" Peter yelled, trying to grab the light in his green hat. Sahara stepped to the side as the light tried to hit her again. In one smooth motion she stuck her arm out and caught the flying creature in her hand.

Holding the small pixie by its wing in her left hand, Sahara leaned in closer to her. Tinkerbell looked beyond furious at the new girl and continued making ringing noises that's meanings Sahara could only begin to guess. "Hey Tink," she whispered to the fairy, "Stop it! I'm not trying to steal him from you. No jealousy trips all right." The fairy in Sahara's hand suddenly stopped moving and stared Sahara directly in the eyes, confused that the girl had understood her motivation. The girl nodded to emphasize her statement and Tinkerbell looked dumbfounded. Sahara released her grip on the fairies wing and she slowly flew back over to Peter's side.

Everyone looked at the key blade mistress in confusion. "Whoa!" Peter said finally breaking the silence, "How'd you do that?"

Sahara bit her bottom lip, "I have a way with pixies?"

"Than that's it! You have to be our new mother!" The eternal youth declared. The other boys around him cheered.

"No, guys, I can't," Sahara insisted, not having expected any of this, and yet curious as to why it had come as a surprise, "I have other things to do. You guys have Wendy. She'd be a far better mother than me." The other girl blushed slightly at Sahara's compliment, having been ignored up until that point in the conversation.

"Yeah, but your older," Slightly explained. Sahara tried not to laugh in response.

"And Wendy can't stay here with us, she wants to grow up," Peter added, a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"There's nothing wrong with growing up," Sahara felt slightly hypocritical, advocating the ideas of responsibly and age that she had been trying to ignore at home, "And besides, it's not like I can stay here for very long anyway. I had to find the key and now I have to find some heart thing."

"You're the key blade master?" Sahara decided to ignore how long it had taken Peter to realize this fact. Peter glared at Sahara as he continued, "That means you can't be our mother."

The depressed looks that washed over the boys faces caused Sahara's heart to hurt, "Well, I'm sure Sahara doesn't have to leave right away," Wendy said, noticing the dilemma the other girl was in, "Maybe she can help me tell you boys a story."

"Will you please?" the boys all began begging Sahara.

"Well, as long as Wendy's helping me," she smiled. Both girls walked over to the largest bed in the underground lair and plopped down in the middle. The boys all positioned themselves in close proximity to the storytellers.

"Which story do you boys want to hear?" Wendy asked them all. There was a large commotion as the boys all began speaking at once about which story they'd like to hear.

Placing her thumb and pinkie at the corners of her mouth, Sahara let out a high-pitched whistle quieting the entire room. "That's better! Now, do you boys know the story of the cursed pirates and the Aztec gold?"

Wendy's eyes lit up, "I know that one, that'll be perfect."

"How does that one go?" Michael asked from his spot on Wendy's lap.

"Well," Sahara began, "it all started a long time ago in small sea side town called Port Royale..."

* * *

Outside Peter Pan and the Lost Boys' hideaway, a sinister band of devils, black sheep and really bad eggs listened to on the proceedings inside.

"I think they're telling stories," one of the pirates told the captain.

"Ah, the tale of Barbossa and Sparrow," Captain Hook sighed, "This key master's a girl after me own heart. Steady boys, once the stories over we'll have to grab them all quickly."

* * *

"So," Sahara said standing up and stretching after the story had finished, "What'd you guys think?"

"Why do all good stories have to end with kissing?" Cubby asked as the other boys stuck out their tongues in disgust.

"I don't know," Sahara laughed, "but it does always seem kind of icky."

"But, true love always has to conquer evil," Wendy protested.

"Sorry, Wendy, didn't mean any offence."

"Love's for girls," Peter proclaimed from the other side of the room. The other boys all shouted their agreement.

"Actually, love is also for boys," Sahara said, "Boy's aren't immune to it no matter what you think."

"Well, I'm immune to it!" Peter insisted. Sahara looked from the cocky elfin boy to Wendy who looked slightly disheartened.

Feeling a need to change the subject, Sahara turned back to Peter, "So, do you know where the heart thing I was talking about earlier is?"

"The pirates have it," Peter replied simply.

"Well, can you help me get it from them?" she asked, confused by the curt response.

Peter looked at her, "I would, but you're the key blade master and you can handle yourself. Plus you wouldn't be the boys' mother."

Sahara's jaw dropped, "What the..where did that come from!" Sahara could tell she wasn't the only one who was confused. The boys and Wendy all stared at their leader in confusion.

"You may tell good stories, but you won't stay here with us and you said it's okay to grow up. I'm not going to help you," Peter stood up and headed to his own room.

"But Peter, she needs your help with the pirates," Wendy said. Peter Pan simply ignored his friend.

Sahara slapped her hand to her head in frustration, "You know what? Fine, I don't need your help."

The Lost Boys all looked between each other and shook their heads in silent agreement, "I don't know about him, but we'll help you Sahara," Slightly said with a smile.

"And we'll help you too," Wendy said indicating herself and her brothers.

Even with this new information, Peter ignored all of his friends and entered his room. The boys all shrugged and headed out of the hideaway. Sahara started to leave, but then turned around as something pulled at her hair. Coming face to face with Tinkerbell, Sahara sighed, "Maybe you can talk some sense into him. I'll keep a close watch on the boys." Tinkerbell smiled, "Hey Tink," Sahara called as the fairy began to fly away, "Do you think you can do me a favor?" The fairy turned back to Sahara with a quizzical expression on her face, "You think you could give me a bit of pixie dust just in case I need it?" The pixie nodded enthusiastically and flew around Sahara leaving a trail of golden dust behind her. After a small sneeze, Sahara smiled at Tinkerbell. "Thank you. Good luck." Tinkerbell rang out the fairy equivalent of you too and Sahara took off out of the hideout.

Tinkerbell had almost reached the entrance to Peter's room when she heard an angry scream. Racing back to the hideout exit, Tinkerbell pressed herself up against the wall, so she could see, but not be seen. Outside, the pirates had tied up and gagged all of the Lost Boys and the Darling children. Sahara, being the last to exit, had her mouth gagged, but was still struggling against her captors as the pirates attempted to stifle her movement and take the key blade. With one hand free, Sahara attempted to fight off the other pirate but soon came face to face with a sharp metallic hook.

"So, there's a new key wielder," the captain, laughed as Sahara stopped struggling. With the sudden lack of movement, the bravest of the pirates took the key blade from Sahara's hand, "Well, you should make an excellent addition to the crew. Take them away boys!" He bellowed as the pirates began pushing the children back toward their ship.

"And just to be on the safe side, we'll leave a little present for our dear Peter Pan," An evil smile spread across Hook's face as he looked over at his first mate. In Smee's hands was a box adorned with white wrapping paper and a large pink bow. Hook took the box and wrapped a long rope around it before slowly lowering it down into the home of his nemesis.

Seeing this from her hiding spot, Tinkerbell reacted quickly. She flew directly at Hook and Smee. As the pirates attempted to fend off the angry pixie, the package continued it's gradual dissent into the hideout. "Annoying bug!" Hook bellowed and backhanded Tinkerbell sending her flying through the air into nearby bushes. As the injured fairy struggled to hang on to consciousness, the pirate captain finished delivering his present and took off through the woods back to his ship.

* * *

Backon the opposite side of Neverland, the pirate crew had managed to get their hostages back to their vessel.

"Tie them to the mast," the pirate filling in for Hook and Smee ordered, "Cooper, take the key girl to the brig!" As the crew began tying up the Darling's and the Lost Boys, the indicated pirates, who also had her key blade, grabbed Sahara and took her toward into the bowels of the ship.

The brig of Hook's ship was dark, dank, and small. The pirate removed Sahara's gag and unbound her hands before pushing her into the only cell on the left side of the brig. Regaining her balance, Sahara spun around as the pirate closed the door. As Sahara watched him lock the door, she realized how much younger he was than the other pirates. He was either Sahara's age or a bit older but compared to Captain Hook he could have been a Lost Boy. The pirate looked up at Sahara with dark unreadable brown eyes. She matched his gaze with a glare of loathing.

"That's no way to act toward the person that's going to help you," he replied, a smirk playing across his features. Sahara tried not to let her shock show up in her expression; she realized she had failed miserably when the pirate's smirk grew.

"If you want to help me you'll let me out of here or hand that over," she said motioning to the key blade strapped to his side.

The pirate laughed, "Not going to be quite that simple I'm sorry to say."

Sahara began feeling both more frustrated and more intrigued as their conversation continued, "Who are you anyway?"

"Cooper," he replied simply "Ryan Cooper. I believe Belle told you about me."

"She said someone was going to help me not that it was you," she shot back as her anger grew.

Ryan realized how short the girl's temper was and continued anyway, "No need to get angry with me. You still have to talk to the captain," Sahara resumed her glaring as the door to the brig opened revealing the silhouette of the pirate captain.

"Good work Mr. Cooper," Hook said, walking closer to the caged Sahara. Sahara's glare quickly shifted from Ryan to the captain, "I'm sorry to have to take you down here, my dear, but I figured it was the best place for a heart to heart chat."

"You'd need a heart before we could have one of those, Hook," Sahara retorted.

Anger flashed in the pirates eyes for a few moments before he quickly regained his composure, "Well, that fact aside, I know what you're looking for and I'm willing to give it to you no strings attached," Hook reached into his coat pocket and produced the heart Sahara had been questing for.

Staring at the heart and then at the captain, Sahara raised an eyebrow, "There has to be some kind of catch."

"Not a one," he assured her, "I'll hand over the heart and you'll be on your way."

Sahara thought for a moment, "What about the Lost Boys and the Darling?"

"Oh, don't worry about them," Hook said with an evil smile, "They'll be under my care."

"Then I think I'll have to pass," Sahara told him, "See, I promised someone I'd look over them and I'm not about to let you try and turn them into your own little band of pirates."

The earlier anger suddenly burst forth from Hook, "You fowl little ingrate! I'm giving you what you want and you're worried about some blasted kids."

Sahara remained impassive, "That's short version."

Hook uttered a long stream of curses before turning back to Sahara, eye' glowing in anger, "Cooper, grab the wench! She'll be joining her friends. They'll all walk the plank!" The pirate captain shoved the stone back in his pocket and continued yelling as he quickly climbed up the stairs to inform the rest of the crew of the development.

Ryan looked at Sahara for a second, "Think that was the best thing you could have done?"

"You doubt I have a plan? I am the key blade master," she said as he opened the door to the cell and quickly bound her hands again, "I think you're starting to like this."

The pirate's jaw dropped and Sahara could have sworn he began blushing. She didn't get a good enough look before Hook's angry voice cut through the air again, "HURRY UP, BLAST IT!" At the angry bellow of the captain, Ryan pushed Sahara out of the cell and up the stairs back onto the deck of the pirate ship. "I see you've finally decided to join us Ms. Key Bearer," Hook taunted as Sahara was taken over to where Wendy stood, away from the boys tied to the mast, "I believe you'll like this next part. Since you decided to refuse my offer, you and Ms. Wendy will walk to plank."

The boys all shouted in protest but were quickly silenced by the pirates surrounding them. "Don't worry boys,"Wendy assured them, "Peter Pan will save us." Suddenly Captain Hook and Mr. Smee began laughing. Wendy looked between the hysterical pirates, "What's so funny?"

"My dear," Hook managed to say, through his subsiding laughter, "In a few minutes, Peter Pan will be no more. You see, we laid a rather ingenious trap for your little friend and when the clock strikes 6, well, we'll just have to wait a few more minutes won't we."

* * *

Back at the hideout, Peter Pan sat in his bedroom playing his fife. Standing up and stretching, he began wondering if the boys and Wendy were going to come back soon. Suddenly he spied a package in the far corner of the room. "Huh," Peter said to no one in particular, "Wonder what that is." He picked up the package and looked it over. "To Peter with love from Wendy. Do not open 'till 6 o'clock." he said reading the boxes tag aloud.

Outside the hideout, Tinkerbell had finally gotten back on her feet. Remembering the peril Peter was in she flew as quickly as she could out of the bushes and back into the tree house. The clock on the wall read 5:58 and the impatient Peter had begun opening his package from Wendy. Unsure of what else to do, Tinkerbell flew straight for the box and began trying to pull it away from Peter.

"Hey! Stop it! Stop that! What's the matter with you!" Peter yelled pulling the package back from the frantic pixie. Tinkerbell quickly tried to tell Peter of the dangers awaiting him, "A bomb? Don't be ridiculous!" Suddenly the package in Peter's hands began smocking. Tinkerbell flew toward the box and knock it out of Peter's hand and out of his reach as the package exploded.

Pulling himself from the wreckage of the destroyed hideout Peter Pan grumbled to himself, "So it was a bomb, if it hadn't been for Tink.." he stopped suddenly remembering his friend, "Tinkerbell!" He yelled ducking the falling debris. The boy began calling the pixies name and suddenly heard a faint jingling noise. Surveying the disaster area he finally spied a flickering golden light and raced toward it. Pushing aside the rubble he tried getting closer to his little friend, "Tink, are you all right?" the pixie spoke in her language of bells, "Wendy? Sahara? The boys?" Peter ducked as more earth fell down upon him, "But I gotta save you first!" he declared inching his way closer to Tinkerbell, "Don't go out! Don't you understand, Tink? You mean more to me than anything in this whole world." The earth trembled again and as more debris fell, Peter tried his best to cover Tinkerbell with his body so she would avoid further harm.

* * *

A hush fell over the pirate ship as Peter Pan's friends stared on in shock. Wendy looked near tears and Sahara tried her best to comfort the girl. The boys all began yelling at the pirates who had destroyed their leader.

"Well," Hook said, his moment of silence for his enemy's demise over, "With your leader gone and your refusal to join my crew, there seems to be no place for the lot of you. I believe that means it's ladies first."

Sahara and Wendy were roughly pushed toward a long wooden board extended from the side of the boat. The plank was just wide enough for both girls to stand side by side and neither chose to give Hook the satisfaction of seeing their fear. Heads held high, they both walked down the plank.

'_Okay Sahara_,' Sahara told herself, _'You're about to face certain doom, but you need to think happy thoughts to get this to work. Um.. Toys at Christmas? Sleigh Bells? Snow? No, none of that, it never snows in California," _she chided her own thought process as the end drew nearer,_ "What the heck would make me happy enough to fly? Wait, that's it! The idea of flying, of losing all my inhibitions and soaring over the heads of those stupid pirates." _Both girls reached the end of the plank, _"God, I hope this works."_

With one last deep breath and Sahara's full concentration devoted to her happy thought, both she and Wendy stepped off of the ship toward the cold ocean. Captain Hook smiled a sinister smile and listened for the impending splash of the doomed girls. When no sound was heard, Hook leaned closer in confusion.

"Captain," Smee began, completely bewildered, "No splash."

The captain looked as confused as the rest of his crew, "Not a sound"

The pirates all looked into the water, "Not a bloomin' ripple," one pointed out

"It's a jinx that's what it is!" shouted another

"No sign of the wenches."

Below the pirates, just out of their line of view Sahara floated next to Wendy and the very alive Peter Pan who had caught her. The three couldn't help but laugh at the baffled pirates as they carefully flew past the crew and up into the rigging.

"I'm telling ye mates," the most superstitious of the scallywags began, "It's a black day, mark me words. We'll all pay for this!"

"No splash, cap'n," the pirate closest to the captain told him.

"So," Hook said, his evil smirk returning, "You want a splash Mr. Starky? I'll give you a splash!" In one fluid motion, Hook had grabbed the pirate by his collar and thrown him overboard. He turned menacingly toward the rest of the crew, "Who's next!"

"You're next Hook," Peter shouted from his position up in the rigging, "This time you've gone too far!

Hook stared in shock, "It can't be!"

"It's his blinkin' ghost, what's talking," Smee declared.

"Say your prayers hook!" Peter called flying down toward the pirate captain.

"I'll show you this ghost has blood in his veins," Hook called, grabbing his sword and readying himself for Peter's attack, "I'll run him through!"

As the enraged captain and the eternal youth battled across the deck of the ship, Sahara grabbed Wendy and the girls flew down to where the boys were tied up.

"Look out!" Slightly called as the girls reached the mast. Sahara spun around and come face to face with the pirate who had sworn his allegiance. Before Sahara could prepare herself for a fight Ryan took the key blade from his hip and handed it over to her. Sahara looked at him in confusion.

"Told you I'd help you," he grinned as she took the blade.

"No!" Hook bellowed causing the girls to pause. Peter charged him again, but Hook pushed the boy aside, "You traitorous billgerat! You're not going to get away that easily. I have some friends who want to meet you."

"What is it with you guys trying to stop me five seconds before I'm about to kick your butts?" Sahara mumbled as Hook pulled a silver whistle out of his coat pocket. He brought the whistle to his lips and blew, but no sound was produced. Wendy, Ryan, and Sahara looked between each other for a few minutes. Slowly, familiar black puddles began forming at their feet. The shadows slowly grew into the shapes of their normal heartless counterparts, but were dressed in pirate garb. Sahara rolled her eyes and groaned wishing she had signed on for an easier job.

She quickly decided to put her improvisation skills to the test, "Ryan, help the boys," the former pirate stared at her in disbelief, "Just trust me! Tell them to grab whatever they can and beat the crud out of these things," Ryan nodded and quickly began helping the lost boys out. "Wendy.." Sahara began, turning to the other girl. Looking behind just behind her brunette head, Sahara caught sight of a pirate advancing toward her. Sahara lightly pushed Wendy out of the way and in one smooth motion hit the pirate upside the head. As he fell to the ground, Sahara took his sword from his hand, "Take this, go nuts!" she said handing the blade to Wendy before taking off across the deck of the ship.

Before long, it was fairly easy to tell that, once again, the battle was turning out to the benefit of the key blade master and her friends. The lost boys, the Darlings, Sahara and Ryan obliterated the heartless and sent the human pirates running. The battle between Hook had Pan had taken an awkward turn and now the two were climbing the rigging while continuing to fight. Though she continued to help the others on what was closer to land, Sahara kept a watchful eye on the two combatants above her head. A few moments later, the heartless had all disappeared and the pirates were fleeing toward the lifeboats. During the lull in combat, those that had not noticed the aerial combat finally caught sight of it.

"Fly fly fly you coward!" Hook yelled advancing toward Peter.

"Coward?" Peter asked slightly enraged, "Me?"

"You wouldn't dare fight old Hook man to man," Hook explained, "You'd fly away like a cowardly sparrow."

"Nobody calls Pan a coward and lives. I'll fight you man to man, with one hand behind my back," Peter added for good measure staring hook directly in the eye.

Hook looked somewhat confused, "You mean you won't fly?"

"No, Peter, it's a trick!" Wendy shouted from the ground.

Peter looked down at his friends for a brief moment before turning back to his enemy, "I give my word, Hook"

"Good," Hook smiled, "Then let's have at it!" The captain pushed the unsuspecting Peter backwards causing the boy to nearly fall off the high perch. Without Peter's ability to fly, the battle quickly shifted into the favor of Captain Hook.

Sahara looked over at Wendy. The girl looked positively horrified at the possibility of her hero being defeated by the evil Hook, "Don't worry, I have a plan," Sahara told the girl as she began to fly toward the battle.

Ryan grabbed her by the wrist before she could get away, "What are you doing?"

"I told you I've got it under control," she assured him. The former member of Hook's crew reluctantly released his grip on her arm and the girl flew up into the rigging. At this very same moment, Hook knocked Peter's sword from his hand. Peter fell backwards onto the ledge, nearly defeated.

Hook placed his sword to Peter's throat with an insane look in his eyes, "Now insolent youth prepare to die!"

The small crowd of Lost Boys and Darlings gasped, "Fly fly peter fly!" Wendy yelled.

Peter finally noticed Sahara positioned behind Hook and grinned, "No, I gave my word," he replied defiantly.

"But I didn't!" Sahara called. Hook turned in anger and soon had the flag from his own ship over his head. Sahara quickly tied the ends of the flag around the pirate as Peter grabbed his sword and turned it around on him.

Hook's head popped out of the flag and he gulped at the sight of the blade pointed at him, "You wouldn't do old Hook in now would you lad?" he pleaded, "I'll go away forever I'll do anything you say!"

"Well, all right," Peter thought for a moment. Sahara quickly flew over to him and whispered something in his ear causing the youth to smile, "If you say you're a codfish"

Hook gulped again, but obliged his nemesis, "I'm a codfish"

"Louder!" Peter commanded pointing the sword more threatening toward Hook

"I'M A CODFISH!" Hook yelled.

The children on the deck of the ship all began cheering. A chant soon followed, "Hook is a codfish, a codfish, a codfish..."

"All right Hook, you're free to go and never return," Peter dropped the pirate's sword and flew up into the air with a mighty rooster call.

Hook saw his chance and tried once again to attack the flying boy with his hook. Both Peter and Sahara saw him start to move and silently formulated a plan. Peter flew up and out of the way and Sahara grabbed Hook by the collar of his jacket as he began to fall. The pirate began whimpering for his life and looked up at Sahara.

"Please, don't drop me, lass! I promise I'll follow Pan's wishes," he pleaded.

"Give me the heart," she commanded. The pirate began shaking as he reached into his coat pocket and produced the small stone Sahara desired. She took it, still holding onto Hook, and placed it in her pocket. While she was distracted Hook once again tried to seek his revenge not remembering that he was suspended high above the water. As he swiped at her face with his hook, Sahara let go and flew out of his reach. The captain screamed as he fell through the air. The new crew of the pirate ship watched as he landed right in the awaiting jaws of the ever hungry ticking crocodile. The croc closed his mouth with a satisfied smile. The pirate captain continued yelling as he ran right out of the crocodile's mouth and moved as quickly as he could toward the longboat full of his crew.

The children continued cheering as Sahara and Peter floated down to the deck, "All right ya swabs!" Peter barked at the boys. They all quickly stood up straight and saluted their leader, "Aloft with ya. We're castin' off!"

Sahara couldn't help but laugh at the very real make believe game taking place before her, "But Peter.." Wendy began taking a step away from Sahara's side, "Oh, that is, Captain Pan"

Peter bowed gallantly, "At your service madam"

"Could you tell me, sir, where we're sailing."

"To London, madam" he informed her heading toward the wheel of the ship.

"Oh, Peter!" Wendy exclaimed, utterly delighted. She quickly ran to find her brothers, "Michael, John, we're going home!"

Meanwhile, Peter continued shouting orders, "Hoist anchor!" He finally turned to Tinkerbell and yelled "Pixie dust!"

The tiny pixie flew around the ship sprinkling her trademark dust as she traveled. The ship soon glowed a brilliant golden color and slowly began lifting out of the water and into the skies above Neverland.

* * *

The trip back to London was not as short as Sahara would have hoped. The boys had decided to preoccupy themselves with a large-scale game of hide and seek throughout out the massive ship. Peter steered the ship and told Wendy about his many adventures in Neverland.

Once again, Sahara found herself out of place though there was a massive crowd around her. She leaned heavily on the railing at the bow of the ship playing with the three heart shaped stones on her necklace. She absentmindedly stared into the sky both above and below the flying pirate ship and began humming to herself. It took her a few moments before she realized someone was standing beside her. Sahara snapped out of her trance and turned toward the yet to be identified individual. Ryan Cooper, former pirate extraordinaire, stood next to her gazing off into the clouds in much the same manner Sahara had been moments before. In the frenzy surrounding the defeat of Hook and the other pirates, Ryan had seemed to disappear until that very moment. Sahara's mind was filled with hundreds of questions for her unlikely ally, but her mouth had other less coherent plans.

"Hi," she said simply.

"Hey," he replied, still staring off into the distance.

"So," Sahara's brain continued to malfunction, "How's it going?"

"Can't complain too much."

"Look, Ryan, I, uh.., I just wanted to apologize for not trusting you earlier. You helped save our lives back there."

Ryan smiled, but shrugged as he finally turned toward Sahara, "You really had no reason to trust me. It's nice to know you're not above apologizing though. I'm sorry, I didn't think you could handle yourself. You're good at improvising."

"Thanks, but you know what?" Sahara began, "We got off on the wrong foot. Let's start over. Hi!" she smiled, extending her hand toward him, "I'm Sahara Dalbek."

Ryan shook her hand firmly smiling as well, "I'm Ryan Cooper, at your service."

Sahara laughed, "This seems like the beginning of an interesting friendship, but don't start thinking you're going to have to save me all the time. That big key and I do a pretty good job of dealing out carnage on our own."

"That I don't doubt. I'm just here as back up," he explained.

"So who sent you to help me, if you don't mind my asking."

"Belle told you about the big council meeting right?" Sahara nodded, "It was kind of them. Technically it was Queen Minnie who actually picked me and sent me your way."

"So that's why Belle didn't know?" she asked.

Ryan nodded, "Yeah, pretty much. We decided it was better if only a few people knew I was helping. We didn't want word to get back to the villains and them to be expecting me. That was I could blend in as just another pirate."

Sahara smirked, "So I take it you're not actually a pirate."

"No," he laughed, "Sorry to burst your bubble. Was I convincing?"

"Let's just say you gave Jack Sparrow a run for his money," she explained.

Before another word could be spoken or another question answered Peter's voice shattered the still night air, "London Ho!"

The lost boys and the darling all ran to the bow of the ship and peered over the railing at the vast city below them. The ship continued to fly through the air and out of the clouds down through the quite streets of London. They finally came to a stop outside the window of the Darling children's nursery. While Ryan tried to keep control of the Lost Boys on the ship just outside, Peter and Sahara took the Darling's back into their room.

Peter stood in the window frame while Sahara and Wendy tucked in the youngest Darling children. They made their way slowly toward Peter, knowing that the inevitable was about to happen. "Oh, thank you for everything Sahara," Wendy gushed, hugging the other girl, "You must come back and see us sometime soon."

Sahara smiled, "I'll try my hardest, Wendy. Take care all right, and don't worry too much about growing up." Peter helped Sahara up onto the ledge and then turned back to Wendy. He bowed to her with his trademark childish grin; she curtseyed in response and with a small wave, Sahara and Peter had left the Darling's nursery.

* * *

"We'll let you off here," Peter informed Sahara as he brought the ship to a stop at the base of a large clock tower. Sahara stared up at the British landmark and smiled.

"Thanks for everything Peter," she said, giving him a hug. Peter, not wanting to be embarrassed in front of the Lost Boys, quickly squirmed away from Sahara, which only caused her to laugh.

"Let us know next time you're in Neverland," he called as Sahara and Ryan stepped off the boat. The Lost Boys leaned over the railing and waved as hard as they could to their friends. Sahara waved back until the pirate ship had disappeared back into the London sky.

"You okay?" Ryan asked Sahara as she continued to stare into the clouds.

"Huh?" Sahara asked, pulling herself away from her thoughts, "Oh yeah, I'm fine."

Ryan thought for a second, "How did you get to Neverland?"

Sahara shrugged, "I don't really know, I was just kind of there."

"That's what I figured," he replied, "I'm pretty sure that I'm not suppose to know your mode of transport, all that key blade mystery stuff, so I'm going to take off and I'll catch you in the next world."

"So, you're just going to leave me here?" Sahara asked though she Ryan's presence when Hades showed up would jeopardize her secret.

"Yeah," he replied simply, "You told me you could handle yourself."

Sahara smirked, "Glad you remembered. Well, then I'll see you later."

"Later," he said taking off down the London street. Just like with the pirate ship, Sahara watched Ryan until he had disappeared from her line of vision.

Turning around she nearly let out a scream as she plowed into Hades, "What the...? Where did you come from?"

"You should have learned about that one in health class kid," Hades joked though Sahara could tell there was something he was not happy about. "Let's go, we need to talk."

"Am I in trouble?" Sahara asked sarcastically. Without a response, Hades snapped his fingers and they had left London.


	5. A Girl Worth Fighting For

A/N: Okkay so I officially fail as an author. It only took me over a year to finally get this update done. I have a ton of excuses for you (work, school, big olde bouts of writers block, moving to Florida for 4 months…etc) but I won't bore you with them. I'm sure I've lost most of my readers and I'm so sorry guys. By the way:

**Singergirl22**: I'm probably not going to do Nemo (unless I do a sequel…which at the rate I'm going could take me until 2020) but thanks for the suggestion. I love Nightmare so that one could be a possibility (I'm still not giving away anything :-P). I hope you got around to playing more of the game (I gave you over a year )

**FallenWraith: **Thank you so much, you're far too kind. I love the idea of Peter Pan in so many ways (the never growing up and fighting pirates all day thing) so it was way fun to write it. Ryan definitely is an odd character with a complicated back-story (but I get into that way later). You'll see more of him in this chapter. I've never seen Wolf Rain so I can't tell you if your comparison is accurate. Actually I modeled him off of someone else (I refuse to disclose until I'm done :-P) and he's kind of turning into a guy I know in real life. And your waiting for HBoND will soon be over.

**Fairly Odd New Yorker**: Thanks for the review. I'll make sure to check out your story when I have more time :-D

**LadyApocalymon: **That's seriously one of the nicest reviews I've received, thank you :-D I know I made you wait forever for this chapter but I hope you approve (cause it goes with one of your ideas for worlds)

**The Fifth Marauder: **You also should be relatively happy with the worlds to come. I say no more, but thanks for the review and just hang in there (hopefully not another year ;-P)

Now that that's out of the way let me say: I hate when other authors have big time periods between chapters like this so I know the way you guys must feel and once again I'm way sorry. So without further ado, here's chapter 5.

**Chapter 5: A Girl Worth Fighting For**

"All right, what'd I do wrong?" Sahara managed to say while choking on blue gray smoke.

"Who's the guy?" Hades asked no hint of joking in his features.

Sahara bit her lip and began walking toward the chair she had begun to claim as her own. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play innocent with me!" Hades shouted suddenly appearing in a fiery blaze before Sahara. The girl shrunk back from the God in both fear and an attempt to keep from getting singed.

"It's no big deal," Sahara began, standing up straight and attempting to choose the words that would do her the least harm. "He's just going to help me with this stuff. He doesn't know about you or the deal or any of that and there's no way for me to get rid of him without it looking suspicious. Relax, okay? I've got it all under control."

As she spoke, the normal blue color of Hades flames replaced the red as he slowly calmed down. Once Sahara had finished her explanation, Hades shuttered. "Oy, do you have any idea how much you sound like Megara sometimes?"

Sahara grinned, happy that the deities temper had cooled. "I'm taking that as a compliment, no matter how you meant it. So, we're cool now?"

"Not exactly," Hades began. "I'm curious about one other thing. Hook practically gift wrapped that heart for you. What in the name of me possessed you to turn it down?"

Sahara wanted to laugh at the remark but instead simply replied, "It didn't look right." Hades quizzical expression caused her to continue. "The hearts usually glow. I don't know why but they do and that one didn't. I think Hook was trying to trick me so he could get Peter more easily. And it wasn't like I could leave Wendy and the boys to the pirates."

"And why not?" Hades asked still confused. "It's not like they're your responsibility."

"Yeah.." Sahara started though she wasn't completely sure of her own reasoning, "But.. look, I just couldn't. I can't explain it."

Hades rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine! You're lucky I like you, babe, or you'd be one toasty minion about now."

Sahara smiled but gulped internally. "I'll take that as a compliment as well. Any other problems?"

"Nope, just be careful and keep your goal in mind. Oh and there's this," Hades reached into one of the pockets of his robes and pulled out a dark blue stone with black flames engraved on its surface. Handing it over to Sahara he explained, "With this new 'obstacle' it'd probably be better if I didn't pop up to get you and send you places. Tap it twice and you're on your way."

"What? No magic words?" Sahara sarcastically replied taking the heart from Hades.

"Ha ha, no. Get going!" Hades declared, adopting his more business like tone. "You've got a whole lot more to do and standing around here's not going to get it done."

Sahara sighed admitting defeat. "Oh, fine!" She tapped the stone lightly twice and, in a poof of red and black smoke, disappeared.

* * *

For the first time in her travels to other lands, Sahara stayed conscious as she was teleported from the Underworld. After a few moments of darkness Sahara found herself falling through the sky. She landed on the ground with a hard thud.

"Sahara, are you okay?" Sahara looked up to see her newest ally, Ryan, standing above her.

Sitting up slowly, Sahara quickly cataloged her bruises, and looked up at Ryan. His dark eyes looked back at her with a hint of worry. "Yeah, I'm cool." Suddenly Sahara realized she was sitting on something less comfortable than the ground. Sahara stood up to see she had landed directly on the key blade. "That was quick!" she mumbled, picking up the blade and turning to Ryan, "What's up? Where are we?"

"China," Ryan stated. "I think we're outside an army camp."

"Army camp? China?" she paused for a second thinking. Sahara noticed Ryan seemed to have traded in his pirate garb for battle armor. Taking this into account Sahara continued, "Mulan?"

"Yup," With her suspicions confirmed, Sahara grabbed the key blade and set about another task. "I can go down there and talk to the commander, but I don't know…Hey, what are you doing?" Ryan asked realizing Sahara hadn't been paying any attention to him. The girl had the key blade in her hand and a pile of freshly chopped long auburn hair at her knees. She shook her head allowing her, now less than shoulder length, hair to fall freely.

"Don't worry about it," Sahara told him as she pulled her hair back into a bun on top of her head.

"Why'd you cut your hair?" Ryan internally figured out the answer to his own question and rolled his eyes. "You're trying to look like a guy so you can get into the camp aren't you?"

"Hey, if Mulan can do it, why can't I?" she shrugged pulling a hair tie from her pocket. "You know as well as I do that they won't take me seriously as a girl."

"Did you're jaw just get square?"

"What?" Sahara distractedly asked wrapping the tie around her hair once more.

"Never mind, just hurry up." Ryan looked around anxiously, praying no one was seeing this.

Sahara finished with her hair and grabbed the key blade. Starting at her head and passing it down the full length of her body, the blade transformed Sahara's regular cloths into black armor with burgundy linens underneath. The baggy clothing and thick armor made Sahara's figure look more masculine.

"How'd you know that thing could do that?" Ryan asked looking back over at the "new" Sahara

"I didn't. Just a feeling" Sahara shrugged. "What do you think?"

"You don't look as feminine, but you still sound like a girl," he replied honestly.

"Then I just won't talk." Sahara told him holstering the key blade on her belt "They'll know about the key blade so you can tell them I'm a hardcore warrior or something. Like I took a vow of silence and you're my translator."

Ryan sighed in the same defeated manner Sahara had earlier with Hades, "Fine, but I don't like this at all."

"You don't really have to. I mean, do you have a better plan?" she asked. Ryan shook his head in response. "Then let's go!" she said heading down the hill toward the camp as the sun slowly set in the distance.

* * *

Inside the camp, Lee Shang, the commander of the small army, paced his tent in frustration. In his hand he held a note from the imperial army's general, his father. The letter called for the young commander to bring his troops to the front line as quickly as possible to help with the invading Hun army. Though Shang felt his troops were ready for a large scale battle, something unnerved him about the letter. He had to make a final decision as to the best course of action to pursue.

Suddenly a head popped through the flap of the tent. Shang tried not to groan at the sight of the royal advisor and general pain in his side known as Chi Fu. The man's long face, which usually held nothing but contempt for the young commander, looked more worried than usual. "Sir, there are some people here that I believe you need to speak with."

Shang sighed but said, "Fine, bring them in." Fu nodded and exited the tent. Soon he reappeared with two other men.

"Good evening, sir," the first man said, bowing to the commander. "My name is Ryan Cooper and this is um…" he faltered slightly. "Tae Kwando."

Shang noticed the other soldier cringe slightly at the mention of his name. Though he thought to comment on the bizarre name of Ryan's companion, Shang's attention soon rested upon the peculiar blade sheathed on the newcomer's belt. Realization dawned on his face. "The key blade? How did you get that?"

"That's why I brought them to you sir," Fu explained "Your father believed they'd becoming to help with the Hun and heartless, but we figured they'd be here before he left."

Tae's face remained impassive as Ryan quickly intervened, "I'm sorry sir, he doesn't talk. It's a form of meditation that keeps him focused and alert. He is the key blade master and that is why he has the key blade in his possession"

"All right then. Though the general wanted you with his army, you may join this one if you'd like. I'm sure he will want to meet you. Go out and meet the other members of the troop and get some sleep. We'll be leaving in the morning for the front lines "

"Thank you, sir" Ryan said and he and Tae quickly made their way out of the tent.

Chi Fu looked surprised at the commander's statement, "So you've finally reached your decision on the matter."

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Shang's voice held an icy chill. "You shall inform the troops immediately."

* * *

Once they were safely away from the tent and out of earshot of any member of the army, Sahara turned to Ryan with a smirk. "Tae Kwando? What the heck we're you thinking?"

"I had to come up with something fast," Ryan shrugged.

"But Tae Kwan Do? Seriously? Come on…"

"Quite! Tae, you're not suppose to be talking remember? Somebody's coming." Sahara and Ryan both turned to see four men walking toward them.

"Well, what have we got here?" The shortest of the four asked in a deep gravely voice.

"Looks like some newcomers," the tall skinny one answered.

"Now Yao, Ling, there's no need to be rude," the one the largest one said, "After all, you started this way with Ping and now he's our friend."

"Hey guys," Ryan said, braving the group. "I'm Ryan and this is Tae."

"That's an odd name," The tall one, said taking a step toward Tae. Tae remained stoic in his demeanor, resisting a sudden impulse to giggle. "What's the matter? Cat got you're tongue?"

"Sh…He doesn't talk." Ryan informed them, nearly slipping up when speaking of his companion's gender.

"Ohhh!" the three men chorused. The only one who hadn't spoken, remained a silent observer in the background. Tae caught the soldiers gaze for a few short moments before he turned away again.

"Well, welcome to the army," Ling said with a half smile, "I'm Ling."

"They call me Yao," the short one declared.

"And I'm Chien-Po," the large one smiled.

"That one back there is Ping," Yao said indicating the silent soldier. "He don't talk much. Shy or somethin'. Guess he'd get along with you." The man laughed gruffly and elbowed Tae jokingly.

Ping smiled at the mention of his name but then regained his mask of indifference, much like the one Tae wore. "So, I heard we're moving out in the morning," Ryan said changing the subject slightly The other soldiers nodded having just found out the news themselves, "Well, we'd better get going. We haven't had much sleep lately."

"Oh all right," Yao nodded, "We'll get a chance to really talk to you two tomorrow then. Well, you at least." he joked.

Ryan nodded and smiled, "Sounds like a plan to me. Night." Tae nodded as well and followed Ryan away from the small group.

"Tomorrow's going to be interesting," Sahara mumbled.

* * *

When Shang said that the troops were moving out early, he hadn't been kidding. Sahara was roughly shaken from a sound sleep at a time she didn't even know existed. The sun had barely begun to rise as the small army set about packing up their camp. Within the hour the troops were out of the valley and marching toward the front lines of the battle field.

Later that day, shortly after noon, Sahara and Ryan received their promised confrontation from the gang of three and Ping. "How goes it fellas?" Yao greeted them. Tae smiled slightly and looked to Ryan to start the proposed conversation.

"Not bad how about yourselves?"

"I don't think I've walked this far in my life," Ling lamented.

"Well, it's good for you right?" Ryan laughed. "But we'll be there soon and then the real physical labor begins."

"He does have a point, Ling," Chien-Po agreed.

Ling gulped realizing maybe his complaints were premature and better saved for after the battle they were likely to engage in with the Hun. Before he could reply Yao had begun pursuing his own agenda with the newest recruits. "So, Ryan, where are you two from?"

"Pretty far away. Since Tae's the key blade master, we're both technically from other worlds."

"Where exactly?" Yao persisted. "Maybe we've heard of it"

"I'm from Miena and he's from Lisandisty." The soldiers all looked shocked by this while Tae tried not to look too confused.

"I always thought Mienas and Lisandians were mortal enemies," Ping said, finally finding his rather feminine voice

Sahara raised an eyebrow in Ryan's direction. The man simply shrugged. To Sahara's surprise the others seemed content with this "answer" and Yao continued his questioning, "Why are you guys here?"

Ryan pointed to the key at Tae's hip, "Like I said, key blade master. We're making sure everything in your world's okay"

"Is something wrong here? I mean beside the huge Mongol army attacking our cities and destroying everything in its path?" Ling asked.

"I guess so," Ryan laughed. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here."

As the men continued to talk about what she deemed pointless information, Sahara found herself zoning out. Her thoughts moved to earlier in the conversation. In all the time she had lived in Lisendisty, there had been no talk of a rival city. Lisendisty was so small that it wasn't even listed on most maps of the area. The group must have gotten it confused with some place else; some place that knew where the heck Meina was.

* * *

Small talk continued as the troops continued moving the rest of the day. Shortly after the sun had set Shang announced that they would be setting up camp for the night. Choosing sleep over indulging her stomach's needs, Sahara opted out on dinner and made her way to the large tent she and Ryan shared. Sahara flopped onto her thin bed roll and found herself nearly consumed by sleep when Ryan entered the tent.

"You asleep yet?" he asked. Sahara kept her eyes closed but groaned. "I thought the stoic warrior might want some food." Sahara groaned again and slowly sat up.

Ryan handed her a small bowl of rice and overcooked vegetables, "Is this a peace offering?" Sahara's voice seemed foreign and slightly hoarse after not being used all day.

"You trying to sound like a man now?" he teased between bites of his dinner.

"Guess that's a no" Sahara grumbled as she fumbled with her chopsticks. Frustration and fatigue consuming her, Sahara threw the utensils across the tent and poured the food into her mouth without their assistance. Ryan chuckled slightly as Sahara set down the bowl and laid back down on her bedroll.

"Good night to you too," he said grabbing her empty bowl. Sahara waved in his general direction as he left the tent again.

Before she had even gone into the tent, Sahara had subconsciously realized that it was far too large for just herself and Ryan. She had ignored the idea when it was overshadowed by sleep deprivation and hunger. The loud voices outside of the tent suddenly brought this idea back to the front of her brain. Sahara quickly grabbed her hair tie and pulled her hair back into a bun before flopping onto the ground again in mock sleep.

"I wondered why this tent was so big," she heard Ryan say just outside the entrance. "I'm pretty sure Tae's already asleep though."

"We'll try to be quite" Ping said "Right guys." The other's mumbled their agreement and the five soldiers entered the tent.

After much shuffling and seat swapping the occupants of the now smaller residence settled in for the night. Tae had already set himself up in the middle of the tent, Ryan lay on his left and Ping on his right. Ling sprawled out at their feet near the opening and Chien-Po and Yao slept near Tae and the others' heads. After a few murmurs of goodnight, the six members of the Chinese army fell into much needed sleep.

* * *

_Where are you?_

_You promised you'd help protect us!_

_You're responsible! You know better than this. _

_We've hidden so well for so long and you threw all of that away to go gallivanting with people you don't even know. _

_They found us, they came, they took over, and you weren't here to fight. _

_We might have survived if you'd been here but you weren't and now it's all gone. _

_How could you do that?_

Sahara sat straight up, a cool sweat dripping from her brow. Her breath came out shakily as she tried to collect her quickly escaping thoughts. None of them made sense and the more she dwelled on them the more her head hurt. _I'm sorry_ she thought to the voices from her nightmare as she lay back on the ground.

Sahara closed her eyes but a deep rumbling sound caused them to open up again. Moving onto her left side, Sahara groaned as she realized the sound was coming from Yao who was snoring, loudly. Sahara rolled over a few times before resigning to the fact that she wasn't going to get any sleep with the noise. She finally stopped on her right side and realized that Ping was not next to her. Sahara got to her feet and crept out of the tent trying not to trip over Ling on her way out.

Stretching her still tired muscles, Sahara casually walked past the army tents. The camp was silent aside from the snoring of Yao and a few others. The moon hung low in the late night sky casting eerie shadows across the camp. As she reached the end of the row of tents, Sahara heard a voice.

"Look, I couldn't sleep in there," the voice sounded feminine but strong. Sahara slowly approached the source of the noise.

"They're not all bad. It's just that short one" another more cocky male voice explained. Sahara tried not to laugh at the description of Yao.

"They're all men; they're all bad. End of story." the female voice laughed. Sahara could tell the voices were coming from behind a tree next to the small pond on the outside of the camp, but she still couldn't see the owners. So as not to interrupt or catch sight what she knew was happening, Sahara cleared her throat as deeply as she could.

"Shhh… I think someone's coming." Tae continued Sahara's trek toward the voices and finally rounded the tree. On the other side sat Ping staring over the pond into nothingness.

"Oh, hey." he said as Tae got closer.

"Hey," Tae said in the most masculine voice he could conjure. "I thought I heard voices."

"So you do talk?" Ping smiled.

"A little," Tae said indicating a small measure with his thumb and index finger.

"No voices though," Ping told him addressing the earlier question, "Just me."

"You couldn't take the snoring either?" Tae laughed.

"How'd you guess?" Ping stood and stretched out his arms "It's a shame though. I really needed that sleep."

"Ah-ha," Tae began, "Then I have an idea. Follow me." As Tae began climbing back toward the camp, Ping followed suit, not quite sure what was about to happen. Once the two reached the tent Tae stepped inside and motioned for Ping to remain outside. Ping stood slightly dumbfounded until Tae came back out with two bed rolls in hand. "You up for roughing it more than we already are? Should be at least a little quieter" he grinned.

"Sounds good to me," Ping smiled taking the bedroll and placing it on the ground outside the tent. Tae followed suit and the nearly collapsed onto the hard ground. As sleep began to overtake Tae, Ping spoke, "So, I have a question for you."

"Shoot"

"This mission you're on with that key thing…..did…did you get to chose whether or not you did it? I mean, was it your decision?"

Tae stopped to think, "Not really. I mean, I wanted to leave where I was, see new thing and all that, but I didn't know that this was involved. I was never really told what I was getting into."

"Sounds familiar," Ping replied cryptically. "Thanks for talking with me. I think the others are beginning to think you're a bit odd with all the silence."

Tae laughed "Well, I am odd and you're far more interesting than any of them. I dunno, it all works out I guess. Night Ping."

"Night Tae."

* * *

Sahara was awoken in the morning by Ryan's panicked voice "Where'd they go?"

"I don't know, they were here last night" Ling answered.

The tent flap was hurled open as Ryan sped through it fearing the worst of his companion. He didn't notice the two soldiers at his feet until his foot made contact with Tae's side and he fell onto the ground. Hearing the 'thud' the gang in the tent quickly ran outside and promptly burst into hysterical laughter. Tae groaned and quickly pulled himself out from under the fallen Ryan.

"Nice going there, grace," Yao said through his laughter. Ryan grumbled and stood up, brushing off what little of his pride was left.

"All right, we all had a good laugh. I'm not even going to ask why you two are out here…"

"Yao snores," Ping stated simply. The small man's face turned red with anger and embarrassment but before he could attack his friend, Ryan cut in again.

"Let's just go get breakfast," he said. The other's reluctantly followed his lead but Yao continued giving Ping the evil eye as Ping and Tae laughed.

* * *

The camp quickly finished with breakfast and dismantled their camp, careful to leave no trace of their presence for any lurking Hun scouts to find. The fatigue of the long trek seemed to be taking its toll on the troops.

"Your pride in tact?" Sahara whispered to Ryan once she was sure no one was around who would be awake enough to process her words.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but why were you really out there?" he finally got to ask.

"What Ping said, and I wanted to make sure I had a bit more of her..his trust," Sahara explained.

Ryan nodded, "Good idea."

"I don't know why you haven't figured out all of my ideas are good," Sahara grinned. "I'm getting so sick of walking aren't you?"

"I'm fine," he admitted, "I just hope no one starts singing. I'm liking the mind numbing silence."

"You obviously don't know these people well enough," Sahara smirked

As if some vicious person had heard Ryan's plea for silence, Ling's voice was could suddenly be heard behind them, "Hey, think of instead, a girl worth fighting for." Ryan groaned and looked pointedly at Sahara.

"What?" she insisted, "I didn't do it! You know you wanna sing," she teased.

"I'll hurt you badly for this," Ryan threatened as they were pulled in opposite directions by the singing army. Sahara simply laughed and tried hard not to sing along.

* * *

The song and joviality continued as both Tae and Ping grew more uncomfortable. Tae suddenly heard a collective gasp from the group. The revelry came to an abrupt halt as each pair of eyes fell onto the devastation before them. An entire village lay in ruin, little more than smoldering rubble and the charred frame work of the homes that had once occupied the land. The soldiers continued carefully through the ruins, unsure of whether to press on or to flee in terror. Fires still burned in the distance and the sky was an eerie, unnatural shade of red. Everyone continued on numbly as Shang, who had ridden shortly ahead, came back toward them.

"Search for survivors," he ordered. The soldiers spread out across what was left of the village each holding their breaths hoping for some sign of life. Tae and Ping both headed in the same direction toward one of the smoldering homes. Ping picked a small doll off the ground and held it to his chest. Shang rode up beside the two men and dismounted his horse. "I don't understand," Tae heard him say. "My father should have been here."

"Captain!" Came the urgent cry of Chi Fu. Shang rushed toward the man who looked more distraught than anyone thus far. Tae watched as his entire demeanor changed. Everyone slowly moved closer to see what had caused such distress. Below where the army stood was a sight worse than any they had ever seen. Hundreds of man lay in the cold wet snow slain at the hands of the vicious Hun army. Jaws dropped and breathing seemed to stop.

Tae numbly watched as Chien-Po walked back up to the group. In his hands was a helmet with a yellow and black feather on the top of it. "The general," he sadly told Shang handing the man the helmet of his fallen father. Shang looked at the helmet in shock for a few moments before sighing and walking away from the group. He walked to the edge of the cliff a few feet from the others, pulled his sword from its sheath he thrust it into the ground point first. The captain got down on his knees and placed the helmet on top of the sword's handle before bowing in silent prayer to his ancestors.

The only person able to move, Ping walked toward Shang and quietly said "I'm sorry." Shang stood, collecting himself, and placed a thankful hand on Ping's shoulder. The other soldiers watched as the captain walked past them and pulled himself up onto his horse.

"The Huns are moving quickly, we'll make better time to the imperial city through the Tung Shao pass. We're the only hope for the emperor now. Move out!" he declared turning his horse and riding ahead of the others.

Spirits decidedly lower, the army slowly followed their commander. Tae bit his lip and began to follow the others when he realized Ping was not following him. He watched the soldier place the small doll he had found on the ground next to Shang's sword. He bowed his head before standing up and turning back toward the disappearing army. He spotted Tae, a small look of guilt on his face. As the soldier walked nearer, Tae shook his head in understanding. "I promise everything will turn out all right," he said. Ping sighed heavily and the two hurried to catch up to the others.

* * *

The troops continued their sullen trek through the pass with little to no morale left in them. They had all witnessed what was left of the strongest troops in the army and their own insecurities about their abilities were beginning to catch up with them. The ankle deep snow didn't help anything either. Suddenly, one of the cannons in the covered wagon Ping's horse led exploded and shot into the sky. Awaken from their zombie like trances the soldiers all gasped. Ping glared back at the wagon as Shang rode up to him.

"What happened?" before Ping could answer Shang continued "You just gave away our position. Now we're…" The commander was cut off as a whistle cut through the frigid air. An arrow flew down from the high cliff side hitting Shang in the shoulder, knocking him to the ground. Loud yelling could be heard as the troops turned to see hundreds of arrows like the one that had taken down their commander flying through the air in their direction. Shang pulled the arrow from his armor and yelled to the small army "Get out of range!"

Dodging the attacks as best they could, the soldiers scrambled away from the falling arrows. As Ping pulled his horse toward safety, the Hun began shooting flaming artillery. Several hit the wagon's drapery setting it ablaze. Ping turned at the same time Shang did.

"Save the cannons!" the commander yelled. The soldiers all ran toward the flaming wagon and began pulling the cannons away from it as quickly as they could manage. Ping freed his horse from the burning wreckage and rode away just as the wagon exploded sending him flying from his horse and into the snow. Tae ran toward Ping, helped him to his feet, and raced toward the troop's higher position. Each soldier took a cannon and pointed it up at the attacking army. The cannons flew through the air toward the Hun causing what seemed like minimal damage.

As the smoke began to clear, the enemy had all but disappeared "Hold the last cannon," Shang ordered Yao. The troops watched in confusion and fear not sure what would befall them next. When the smoke finally dissipated, a lone figure stood at the top of the hill. Tae immediately recognized the leader of the Hun army, Shan-Yu. As the Chinese army watched, a line of Hun began to form on the mountain. At the side of each was a dark unidentifiable creature. Tae quickly realized that like the other villains she had fought, the Hun army had control over the heartless.

With a voice that showed no hint of fear, Shang instructed his troops, "Prepare to fight. If we die, we die with honor."

The sheer number of Huns and heartless that could be seen was staggering and didn't instill much hope in the soldiers as they all drew their weapons. At the signal of Shan-Yu, the enormous army began their descent down the mountain. There seemed a never ending stream of darkness and men pouring from the sides of the pass and Sahara felt everyone around her suddenly tense.

"Yao, aim the cannon at Shan-Yu," Sahara heard Shang tell the short soldier. Yao nodded in understanding and aimed the cannon at the opposing leader. Just as he had nearly lined up his shot, Ping suddenly pushed him out of the way and grabbed the cannon. He ran up the hill toward the oncoming forces despite Shang's orders to return.

Ping shoved the cannon in the ground as Shan-Yu charged closer. Fumbling with the piece of flint in his hands, he finally managed to light the cannon but instead of aiming it at Shan-Yu, he aimed it toward the peak of the mountain overlooking the pass.

A moment passed and suddenly the snow on the mountain began to crumbled and roll down toward the attacking Hun. Shan-Yu looked at the smirking warrior in shock. Growing angry at the fact that his troops were about to be taken down by one insignificant soldier he yelled out in anger and swiped his blade across the man's side. Ping grabbed his wound and scrambled to his feet.

Shang stared at the scene in shock before Ping grabbed his arm with his free hand and pulled him away from the avalanche. The heartless disappeared as the snow hit them and the avalanche consumed all the Huns in its path.

Tae looked between the two escaping members of his army and the avalanche advancing toward them and the Hun army. Ping's horse rushed to the rescue of the two soldiers. Ping pulled himself up onto the back of the animal before turning and grabbing Shang's hand to help him up. Thinking impulsively and with no other ideas, Sahara pulled out the key blade and ran toward the two soldiers.

"What are you doing?" Ryan yelled as he chased after her.

"I'm trying to protect us" she yelled back. Sahara stopped quickly, held the key above her head and slammed it into the ground. Gripping the blade and closing her eyes, Sahara concentrated hard. An electric pulse ran through her body as a light red bubble like formation appeared around herself and Ryan, spread to Ping and Shang just as the avalanche was about to hit them, and then traveled over to the rest of the troops. The avalanche overtook the Hun army and continued it descent toward the others. The snow hit the protective formation and spilled over the surface.

The snow finally stopped rushing, the red bubbles disappeared and Sahara fell forward into the snow. As everyone recovered from their shock, Ryan ran over and helped Sahara back up, "Are you okay?" he asked as she stood on her own accord.

"I think so. A little woozy, let's go check on everyone else." Sahara told him. With Ryan's help, she headed toward the others. The other soldiers had reached Ping and Shang who both tried to catch your breath.

"Ping?" Shang began, still trying to breath, "You are the craziest man I've ever met. And for that I owe you my life. From now on, you have my trust."

"Let's hear it for Ping the bravest of us all!" Ling began the cheer as the rest of the army followed suit.

"Don't forget Tae!" Yao called, "He did that weird pink bubble thing!" The troops cheered for Tae as well who smiled weakly and sat on the ground to steady himself as the world lurched. As the others continued cheering, Shang helped Ping to his feet. Suddenly Ping doubled over in pain.

"Ping, what's wrong?" Shang asked as Ping knelt on the ground. The soldier pulled his hand from his side to reveal his blood stain garment and hand. "He's wounded!" Shang yelled "Get help!" Ping's eyes slowly began to close as he lost consciousness.

* * *

Tensions ran high as the troops waited for word from the doctor on Ping's condition. Worried looks passed between those who could look one another in the face. Shang paced outside the makeshift doctor's office while Sahara paced a few feet away from him and the rest of the men.

"Would you relax?" Ryan asked her when she passed him for the fourth time in the past minute. Sahara sent him a death glare that caused him to cringe and continued walking. "You know she's going to be all right."

"Yeah, I do, but it's…it's just stressful. I don't want what's about to happen to happen but I'm sick of changing everything." she groaned as she continued pacing. Suddenly she stopped. "If..if I do something when all of this gets revealed, will you back me up?"

He raised an eyebrow, "Do I really have a choice?"

"Do I need to answer that?" she smirked. Just then, the doctor came out of the tent and motioned to Shang. The commander rushed to his side and the man whispered something to him. A look of shock passed across Shang's features and he rushed into the tent. "Here we go," Sahara whispered to Ryan.

Everyone waited outside of the tent with baited breath as Chi Fu ran in. Soon after, Shang stormed out of the tent and the soldiers heard Chi Fu's voice "I knew there was something wrong with you!" he said pulling Ping from the tent. The man pulled the ribbon from Ping's hair, "A woman!" he spat as he threw her to the ground "Treacherous snake!"

"My name is Mulan!" she told him defiantly, "I did it to save my father!" she said, trying to address Shang who's back was to her.

"High Treason!" Chi Fu declared.

Ignoring his comments Mulan continued addressing Shang. "I didn't mean for it to go this far"

"Ultimate dishonor"

"It was the only way, please believe me!" Mulan pleaded

Fu scoffed at her, "Captain?" Shang looked from the girl to the emperor's advisor. He wanted to sigh but instead walked toward Mulan's horse and drew her sword. Khan whinnied and reared back in fear for his owner "Restrain him" Fu commanded the nearest soldier. The man did as he was told and tried to stop the upset animal.

"No!" Chien Po, Ling, and Yao yelled rushing toward the girl.

Chi Fu raised his hand to stop them in their tracks "You know the law."

Shang advanced toward Mulan as she hung her head in defeat. He raised the sword above his head and dropped it in front of the girl. "A life for a life, my debt is repaid" He turned from Mulan and began walking toward his horse. "Move out!" he commanded.

"But you can't just…" Chi Fu babbled in confusion.

Shang's voice suddenly held an icy chill "I said move out!"

Tae felt his face grow hot in anger. He pushed past the other men and walked toward Mulan. The girl's eyes still stared at the ground as Tae sat down beside her in the cold snow.

"What's he doing?" Yao asked Ryan in confusion.

"I'm staying." Tae answered on his own behalf in the voice he had only used for Ping. Mulan finally looked up at the soldier in confusion.

"What!" Shang bellowed, catching the conversation.

"I said I'm staying. She's as brave as any of us, probably braver. I refuse to leave her here."

"It doesn't matter, she's a woman!" Chi Fu insisted sick of not being listened to.

"She saved our lives!" Tae found himself nearly yelling while trying hard to resist the urge to hit the emperor's advisor.

"It's the law!" he cried.

"I'm not from here; I'm not bound by your laws." Tae shot back.

"That's enough!" Shang bellowed. "Stay or go, it doesn't matter we're leaving. NOW!"

"If you feel it's your job to dishonor yourself and the title of key blade master, be my guess," Chi Fu scoffed glaring at Tae before turning from him in a huff. As Shang began to leave, the other soldiers followed glancing wearily back at Tae and Mulan.

"You sure you know what you're doing?" Ryan mumbled. Tae nodded curtly, staring after the troops. "All right then, I'll go make sure they don't hurt themselves." Tae smiled as Ryan quickly took off after the army bound for the imperial city.

"Why did you do that?" Tae had nearly forgotten Mulan was beside him when the girl spoke. He tore his eyes from the vacant spot the army had just occupied and looked to Mulan who stared at him in confusion. "You dishonored yourself and that key thing for me. Why'd you do it?"

Sahara smiled, despite the other girl's worry. She pulled her hair from its bun and spoke in her normal voice "To be honest, I figured if you couldn't get away with any of this, I shouldn't either."

Mulan's eye's grew large and she stared at the now undisguised girl in shock "I knew it!" she blurted out. "I mean…I thought I was just hoping I wasn't the only one."

Sahara laughed, "Well, I mean, I would have told you earlier but I wasn't completely sure how to do it. And I would have said something with the army here but I didn't really have the same kind of leverage you did."

"It's okay, I understand, but now we're both stuck out here." Mulan shivered slightly.

"You need to get changed. You're going to freeze out here. Wait, let me try something" Sahara took the key blade from her side and pointed it at Mulan. "Hold still." The key traveled the full length of Mulan's body, giving the young woman warmer linins than the sheer bandages she had been wrapped in. "It's the lazy way to get dressed" Sahara smiled. She passed the key over her own body and transformed her armor into a more comfortable red frock and black pants. Her hair grew back to its place just below her shoulders giving her back her feminine look.

The girls sat in silence for a few moments. Khan pulled the blanket from his back, placed it over his mistress's shoulders, and rested in the snow behind her. "So you knew about me the whole time?" Mulan finally asked.

"I did. It all kinda comes with the job. I also know about Mushu." she explained looking for the uncharacteristically quiet dragon. A red creature apprehensively made its way from behind the horse. Sahara waved at him with a smile.

The dragon smiled. "Nice to know I've got a rep."

"I never said it was a good one." Sahara added somewhat sarcastically.

Mushu groaned and hung his head "I was this close, this close" he indicated holding his scaly fingers inches apart "to impressin' the ancestors, gettin' the top shelf an entourage. Man, all my fine work," he scoffed sitting by the tiny fire his cricket companion had managed to create. He grabbed a wanton from the ration of food that had been left for the girls and began trying to cook it.

"I should never have left home," Mulan sighed staring into nothingness.

"Don't say that," Sahara reprimanded, staring at a different vacant space.

"Yeah, come on you went to save your father's life" Mushu tried to console her, "Who knew you'd end up shamin' him, disgracin' your ancestors and losin' all your friends." Sahara glared at the dragon who paid her no mind. His cook out fire extinguished but he continued speaking, "You know you just gotta…You gotta learn to let these things go."

"Maybe I didn't go for my father" Mulan began, explaining her inner thoughts, "Maybe what I really wanted was to prove I could do things right. So when I looked in the mirror I'd see someone worthwhile." She picked up her helmet, the helmet of her father and stared at her reflection, "But I was wrong, I see nothing"

Mulan threw the helmet aside as tears managed to escape her eyes. Mushu looked up at the distraught woman and picked up the helmet, "That's just cause this needs a little spit, that's all. Let me shine this up for ya." The small dragon did his best to shine up the helmet before pushing it toward Mulan. "I can see you. Look at you, you look so pretty." His attempt at comfort did little as Mulan turned from the dragon and helmet. Mushu sighed and looked at his own reflection in the helmet "The truth is we're both frauds." he admitted "Your ancestors never sent me they don't even like me. I mean, you risked your life to help people you love. I risked your life to help myself At least you had good intentions."

Crickee jumped up onto the helmet, looked at himself and began wailing. Until that point Sahara had no idea that crickets could cry. He chirped something through his sobs and Mushu glared at him "What! What do you mean you're not lucky!" he grabbed the small cricket "You lied to me?" The cricket chirped and nodded causing Mushu to grow more angry. "Well, we already know miss-I-have-a-huge-key over there didn't tell us the truth" He suddenly turned to Khan "And what are you? A sheep?"

Sahara tried not to laugh as the dragon threw a hissy fit. "Mushu, it's going to be okay, breathe. As for you" she said addressing Mulan "You're being far too hard on yourself. Believe me, your family is just going to be happy to know you're alive!"

Mulan sighed "I'll have to face my father sooner or later. Let's go home"

"Yeah," Mushu admitted "This ain't gonna be pretty. But don't you worry, okay?" he said jumping onto the helmet and looking eye level with Mulan, "Things will work out. We started this thing together and that's how we're going to finish it." Mulan pulled her arm from beneath her blanket and hugged the dragon, "I promise" he told her sincerely.

Sahara smiled to herself but something in the sky suddenly caught her eye. "No!" she whispered to herself. The screech that the bird produced only confirmed her suspicions. She ignored her intuition and began helping Mulan pack the provisions onto Khan's back. "I guess you can drop me near the Imperial City" she told Mulan. "I need to find out where Ryan got to."

"No problem," Mulan smiled "Are you and him….you know…"

"No!" Sahara practically yelled. The thought of herself with Ryan hadn't crossed her mind and the moment it did she felt slightly ill. "I mean, no...no way...ew!"

Mulan laughed, despite her earlier mood "All right, all right, fine."

"But…" Sahara's thought was suddenly cut off as a cry of bitter anguish echoed through the mountains. She and Mulan both spun in the direction of the noise. They quickly moved through the snow and up to the top of the mountain overlooking the pass where they had just helped defeat the Hun army. At the bottom of the pass stood five Hun and their leader, Shan Yu. They slowly began trudging toward the Imperial City. Mulan gasped and ran back toward Khan. She grabbed her sword from the spot Shang had dropped it at and holstered it at her belt.

"Uh, home is that way," Mushu informed her as she jumped on the horse.

Mulan looked at him pointedly, "I have to do something!"

"Did you see those Hun!" Mushu exclaimed, "They popped out of the snow, like daisies!"

"Are we in this together or not?" she asked him honestly.

Before the dragon could respond Sahara jumped on Khan's back right behind Mulan "Sounds good enough to me" she smiled.

Mushu looked to Crickee for a short moment before a smile spread across his face "Well, let's go kick some Hunny buns!" He let out a battle cry and ran toward the horse, jumping on right behind Sahara. With all passengers on board, Khan took off toward the Imperial City.

* * *

The Chinese city was abuzz with activity in the early hours of the night. It seemed all the citizens were out hoping to catch a glimpse of the war heroes. A grand parade had been arranged with performers of all shapes and sizes showing off their talents. As their presence was announced, no one seemed to notice the sullen looks on the faces of the heroes of China. One thought passed through all of their minds, they knew that the two bravest of them were not being given the honors they deserved.

Mulan and Sahara arrived in the city halfway through the parade. Peering through the crowd Mulan finally spotted Shang and the others.

"Oh man," Sahara mumbled to no one in particular. "I forgot they don't know about me. Though, I guess that's the least of our worries."

"Shang!" Mulan yelled as she raced through the crowd and next to the commander of the Chinese army.

"Mulan?" Shang looked at the girl in shock before trying to conceal his facial expressions

He looked back toward Sahara but before he could ask anything, Mulan continued, "The Huns are alive! They're in the city!"

"You don't belong here, Mulan" he curtly reminded her as he continued riding "Go home!"

Mulan paused for a moment, hurt by his words. Not one to be deterred easily, she rode up on Shang's other side, "I saw them in the mountains. You have to believe me"

"Why should I!"

Mulan continued to grow more angry and more frustrated. She steered Khan in front of Shang stopping his progression "Why else would I come back?" she spat the rhetorical question at him. "You said you'd trust Ping. Why is Mulan any different?"

Refusing to answer the question, Shang glared at the girl and steered his horse around hers. The other soldiers of the army followed their commander but looked up at Mulan "Keep your eye's open" she informed them "I know they're here!" As she turned Khan from the men, they all caught sight of the strangely familiar girl riding behind Mulan. Sahara looked away from them quickly, hoping they weren't fast enough to realize who she was but catching the grin on Ryan's face.

Away from the parade, Mulan jumped down from Khan's back, Sahara following suit. "Now where are you going?" Mushu asked

"To find someone who will believe me" she informed him running toward the palace.

Mushu looked at Sahara and they both shrugged simultaneously. "She's gotta learn some things on her own," Sahara admitted. Mushu nodded and both he and Crickee jumped onto Sahara's shoulder.

As the Chinese heroes finally reached the top steps of the imperial palace a gong sounded and the emperor appeared. "My children," he began, addressing the congregation of villagers, "Heaven smiles down upon the middle kingdom. China will sleep safely tonight thanks to our brave warriors"

As the emperor continued his speech, Mulan attempted to acquire help. She ran toward the man closest to the back of the crowd "Sir, the emperor is in danger!" She exclaimed. The man simply shrugged her off and went about his business, "But the Huns are here!" Mulan cried. She headed toward another man who's reaction was nearly the same "Please you have to help." Confused by the lack of compassion Mulan finally turned back to Mushu and Sahara. " No one will listen!"

"Huh? I'm sorry." Mushu replied staring off into space "Did you say something?"

"Mushu!" Mulan groaned

Mushu looked at her frankly, "You're a girl again remember?"

Back at the palace, Shang bowed before the emperor "Your majesty. I present to you the sword of Shan-Yu"

"I know what this means to you, Captain Li." The emperor commented "Your father would have been very proud"

As Shang began to hand over the sword to the emperor a high pitched, familiar screech pierced the air. In one smooth motion, a hawk swooped from the sky and snatched the sword from Shang with its sharp talons. The bird flew high into the sky toward the roof of the palace. The crowd watched in shock as a hand reached up and grabbed the sword from the hawk. With all eyes on the very alive leader of the Mongol forces, Sahara and Mulan quickly pushed their way up toward the palace.

Suddenly the Chinese dragon from the parade exploded open as the remaining Hun jumped out and attacked those nearby. Shang tried his best to take down the villains, but was pushed to the ground as the Hun grabbed the emperor. They quickly made their way into the palace and barred the door behind them.

"Come on!" Yao called to the imperial soldiers running toward the barricade. Shan Yu simply cackled in response.

Working quickly the soldiers grabbed one of the large stone dragons from the side of the palace's entryway. Makeshift battering ram in place, they rammed the closed door repeatedly with all their collective strength.

Sahara and Mulan finally reached the top of the steps and watched the men's futile attack on the door. "They'll never reach the emperor in time." Mulan commented slowly formulating a plan in her head

"I think I know that look," Sahara grinned, "You got a plan?" Mulan nodded as a smirk crossed her face and the two ran toward the soldiers.

With a whistle Mulan got the soldiers' attention "Hey guys! I've got an idea." Leaving them with only this she took off around the side of the palace with Sahara in toe.

The men shrugged and looked at Shang. Before the man could respond, Yao, Ling, Chien-po and Ryan had dropped the stone lion and taken off after the two girls.

* * *

Sahara was slightly amazed at how quickly the guys took to Mulan's plan. After a quick explanation as to the plan and why Tae was now Sahara, the gang of three handed their swords and armor over to Mulan. Sahara took the key blade and used its disguise feature to turn the three into some of the most…interesting drag queens she had ever seen. Ryan opted out on womanhood though Sahara felt it would have been only fair for him to undergo identity crisis like she had had to.

The three "girls," Mulan, Sahara, and Ryan all lined up in front of individual columns on the side of the palace. Taking lessons from Mulan's earlier triumph back at the camp they wrapped scarves around each pillar taking the ends in their hands. They all looked to Mulan for the okay. She smiled in return as a hand lightly touched her shoulder. Mulan spun around to Shang. With a smirk on his face the Imperial captain took the cape from around his neck and flung it around the pole like the others had done. The others smiled at him before slowly making their way up to the top of the palace to complete Mulan's plan.

* * *

Finally inside the palace, the seven warriors waited out of eye sight of the Hun as Mulan surveyed the situation. Five Hun and one hawk stood watch over the door way leading to one of the palaces balconies where Shan-Yu and the emperor were "conversing"

"Okay, any questions?" Mulan asked before the team readied to begin their rescue mission.

"Yeah," Yao began "Does this dress make me look fat?" The others groaned and Ling slapped Yao who groaned in pain.

The three "girls", Mulan and Sahara emerged from their hiding place and headed toward the Hun giggling girlishly. "Who's there?" one of the Hun asked as they all readied their weapons. The girls continued walking toward them looking flirtatiously over their fans.

"Concubines" a burly Hun said, pushing the other's sword down so he wouldn't attack the girls.

"Ugly concubines" the other replied

The three parted from Mulan and Sahara and moved closer to the men. The Hun smiled and waved flirtatiously at the girls. As they continued an apple fell from Ling's dress rolled to the large Hun's feet. Ling quickly tried to conceal his loss.

From their hiding spot, Shang and Ryan cringed noticeably. On a perch above the door, Shan-Yu's hawk spied the men. He began to give out his high pitched screech when flames poured down on him from above. The now featherless and embarrassed hawk looked up to see Mushu and Crickee "Now that's what I call Mongolian barbeque" the dragon quipped.

The most captivated of the Hun continued to smile stupidly as he picked Ling's apple off of the floor. Before he could hand the fruit back to its owner, the three girls all pulled out their concealed "weapons" and grinned maliciously at the Hun. The brawl began and ended fairly quickly. Chien-Po smashed two large watermelons on the heads of the largest of the Hun guards. Ling shoved his remaining apple in the mouth of his attacker before kicking and head butting the man into submission. Yao dodged punches before grabbing his assailants arm and flipping him over his head. Away from the fruit wielding "concubines" Sahara and Mulan quickly disarmed the last of the Hun and Mulan yelled to the others "Shang, go!" At the signal, Ryan and Shang took off toward the Emperor and Shan Yu.

* * *

On the balcony of the palace, things were not going exactly to Shan-Yu's plan. "I tire of your arrogance, old man." Shan Yu eyed his sword growing more impatient. He aimed the sword at the emperor menacingly "Bow to me!"

"No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it" the emperor philosophized despite the precarious situation he found himself in.

Shan Yu stared in wonder at the man "Then you will kneel in pieces!" As he raised his sword to strike the emperor Shang reached the top of the stairs and countered his attack. The two squared off as Ryan grabbed the emperor and pulled him to safety. Sahara, Mulan and the others finally made their way up the stairs and assessed the scene.

"Chien-Po get the emperor!" Mulan commanded.

Chien-Po bowed to the emperor, "Sorry your majesty," then grabbed him around the waist and ran toward Mulan. He quickly threw his sash over a string of lanterns and slid down over the crowd, emperor still held tightly under his arm. Ling and Yao quickly followed their friend away from the palace and to safety. Mulan and Sahara hesitated turning back to Ryan and Shang

The men had their hands full with the now even more vengeful Shan Yu. Seeing his prey escape the Hun leader's eyes glowed with a fierce rage. As Shang began to attack again, Shan Yu surprised him with a blow to the gut. Shang doubled over in pain before enduring another blow this time to the head. Ryan raced up behind Shan-Yu, sword drawn but was also on the receiving end of a fierce attack from the angry Mongol.

Both attackers down, Shan Yu turned to the girls and the escape route of the emperor.

"Not going to happen" Sahara mumbled to herself turning back to the rope. In one fluid motion she pulled the key blade from her waist and cut the line. Shan Yu ran to the edge of the balcony, pushed Sahara out of the way, and desperately tried to clutch at the quickly escaping rope. As the crowd cheered below, the commander of the Hun let out a fearsome howl of rage. He spun on his heels, anger still burning in his cold black eyes. "You," he growled racing toward Shang, as the man tried to get up. Shan Yu grabbed him by his collar and brought him up to eye level with no effort, "You took away my victory." The Mongol drew his sword and began to bring it down on the Chinese commander. Suddenly something hit him in the back of the head causing the Hun to hesitate.

"No!" Mulan yelled from behind Shan Yu. Shan Yu turned to face the defiant girl. "I did!" To prove her point she pulled her hair back in the bun she had worn it in as Ping.

Shan Yu's jaw dropped slightly and his eyes went wide "The soldier from the mountains" He immediately relinquished his hold on Shang and turned his attention to his true adversary. As the Hun advanced Ryan quickly ran between Shan Yu and the girl.

"Sahara, get Mulan and go, we'll hold him off" Ryan yelled as his sword met Shan Yu's. Sahara nodded though his attention was else where and ran for Mulan. Mulan took the hint and the two girls raced down the balcony's stairs and back into the room where they had defeated the rest of the Huns. As the girls escaped and Ryan continued to counter his attacks Shan Yu's anger grew fiercer. With another fearsome roar Shan Yu grabbed Ryan by the shoulder and threw him across the balcony.

One challenger down the Hun raced down the stairs to the now locked door. On the opposite side, Mulan and Sahara leaned against the door trying to formulate a plan. The crazed man on the outside pounded furiously on door. Finally his fist went all the way through the wood just inches above Sahara's head.

The two quickly began running down the hall again. Mushu quickly ran up to the two "So what's the plan?" he hollered as Sahara grabbed him so he could keep up. The girls both looked at each other with little hope. "You don't have a plan!" he hollered.

"I'm making this up as we go!" Mulan admitted. Behind them the sound of Shan Yu breaking down his final barrier sent the girls running faster.

"Wait a second. I think for once, I have a plan," Sahara called as they passed a window. "We're going up. Follow me" Mulan looked at the girl strangely but as Sahara began climbing out the window she followed.

Still not sure exactly what she was thinking, Sahara grabbed onto the nearest fixture of the palace and carefully pulled herself up onto the roof. She quickly turned and helped Mulan up as well. As the girl got to her feet, Shan Yu burst from the roof behind them, blade drawn. Sahara whirled around and countered his first attack. His second attack caught her off guard and send her sliding down the shingles. The Hun turned to Mulan a smirk on his face. "looks like you two are out of ideas" Mulan pulled her fan from her pocket as Shan Yu attacked.

The blade sliced through the paper, Mulan twisted the fan and ripped the sword from Shan Yu's hand. "Not quite" she smirked back. She turned the sword back on the Hun and pointed it at his throat. "Ready Sahara?"

Sahara had pulled herself back up to the top of the roof just behind the Mongol. "Born that way" she smirked as well. Shan Yu growled again and began toward Sahara. Mulan kicked him swiftly in the jaw sending him falling. Sahara pointed the key blade at the Hun leader. The blade produced a pure white light that sent Shan Yu flying across the roof. He continued traveling before landing in the fireworks that were to have commemorated the return of the heroes. The light from the key blade ignited the fuses of the fireworks and they began exploding in vibrant light and smoke. Mulan quickly grabbed Mushu and she and Sahara ran from the explosions as quickly as they could. Both girls grabbed the paper lanterns hung from the palace roof and slid down to the stairs of the palace.

Ryan and Shang hurried from the palace as the girls reached the ground. Sahara landed unceremoniously on the ground rolling to a stop next to Ryan while Mulan accidentally used Shang as a landing pad. Brushing herself off, Sahara got to her feet just in time to see Chi Fu stomping out of the palace. She let out a groan both for her injuries and for the emperor's advisor.

"That was a deliberate attempt on my life!" He bellowed "Where is she? Now she's done it." The advisor continued stomping toward the group of heroes. He looked at Sahara for half a second in confusion then turned looking for Mulan. What a mess! Stand aside." He told Shang as the commander stood up to him. "That creature's not worth protecting."

"She's a hero!" Shang protested getting into the man's face.

"'Tis a woman!" he shot back. "She'll never be worth anything."

Sahara's temper finally snapped "You moron! She saved us, I helped save you. Are you telling me the powers that be were wrong when they chose a female key blade master."

The advisor simply snorted. Shang grabbed him by the collar "Listen you pompus…"

"That is enough!" A voice cut off the conversation. Everyone turned to the stairs of the imperial palace to see the emperors emerge. Chi Fu and Shang both stepped away from one another looking embarrassed.

"Your Majesty," Shang began. "I can explain." The emperor silenced him with a simple wave of his hand. The soldiers bowed and parted revealing Mulan and Sahara. The girls bowed and the emperor turned to Mulan.

"I've heard a great deal about you Fa Mulan." He began. Mulan looked up slightly ashamed. "You stole your fathers armor, ran away from home, impersonated a soldier, deceived your commanding officer, dishonored the Chinese army, destroyed my palace, and…" Mulan flinched at his stern tone "You have saved us all."

As Mulan looked up in disbelief, the emperor bowed to her. Seeing him do this Chi Fu quickly threw himself to the ground in a bow. Everyone else around her quickly followed suit, most of them with genuine smiles on their faces. As Mulan continued to look around jaw agape, the entire population of Chinese citizens watching from near the burning palace bowed as well. Mulan turned back to the emperor with a smile.

"Chi Fu" he began, addressing his advisor

"Your excellency?"

"See to it that this woman is made a member of my council." He decreed

Chi Fu's jaw dropped and he began to stammer, "What? But…there are no council positions open your majesty."

"Very well," he smiled at Mulan "You can have his job"

As Chi Fu fainted and Mulan tried to suppress laughter she told the emperor "With all due respect your excellency, I think I've been away from home long enough.

"Then take this" he said taking the pendant from around his neck "So your family will know what you have done for me and this" he smiled handing the girl the sword of Shan Yu "So the world will know what you have done for china." Mulan smiled and threw her arms around the elder man.

She turned from him and headed back to the group. She ran up to Sahara and hugged her. "You should have been bowed to also. I don't deserve all the credit" she explained

"Believe me Mulan, this is all for you. I can't stand that kind of attention. Now hurry back to your family, I know they miss you. Tell Mushu I say goodbye." The girls hugged one more time before Mulan continued to the gang of three. Sahara smiled after her but gulped slightly at the next words she heard

"Sahara Dalbek" the emperor said as Sahara turned back around. "I must speak with you as well" Sahara slowly approached the emperor and bowed. "I believe that your quest was not just limited to helping save my empire. I believe you were also searching for this." From his robes the man produced another stone heart like the ones around Sahara's neck.

Sahara took the stone, this time marked with a 'S' and connected it to the chain around her neck. "Thank you sir" she smiled.

The emperor smiled and nodded "You are a strong warrior, child, in both heart and mind. Improve your skills and continue this journey. You are sure to save us all if you continue to be strong and true."

Sahara smiled despite her misgivings and turned from the emperor. "Come on," she smiled as she passed Ryan, "Let's go." As the headed down the palace stairs Sahara ran over to the gang of three and received a large group hug. "You boys be good." She smiled as they let her go.

The two continued down the stairs and came upon Shang. He stared off down the stairs where Mulan had just been. Sahara patted him lightly on the shoulder causing him to snap out of his trance. He looked at her with a half smile. Sahara pulled the commander into a hug and quickly whispered "Don't be stupid about this, okay?" She smirked at his confused, slightly embarrassed facial expression as she pulled away then looked to Ryan.

The crowds parted as the two headed out of the imperial city. "Well that wasn't so bad" Ryan laughed as they reached the edge of the crowd.

"Yeah," Sahara agreed. "But next time, you get to be the one in drag."

Ryan laughed again and started off in the opposite direction, "What ever you say Tae"

"You watch it. I'll get you back for that somehow!" she declared before removing the stone Hades had given her from her pocket, tapping it twice, and disappearing in a puff of smoke.

A/N: Ugggh and see, I wish I could have given you better chapter for all this wait. Yay China! I know this world's in KH 2, but I wanted to get my version of it out first. I may run into that problem as I go on (running along KH2, but we'll see) Again, sorry everyone. I can't promise that the next chapter will come very soon but I promise it won't take nearly as long! I'm reworking a lot of ideas and I'm in a very write-y mood so we'll see. Once again I'm sorry and I hope you at least sort of enjoyed this


	6. God Help the Outcasts

_(Sorry for the delay… Looking for author's notes/ lame apologies? They're at the end from now on )_

**Chapter 6: **

**God Help the Outcasts**

"Why has she not returned?" The impatient voice cut through Hades mind causing him to snap out of his thought induced coma.

"Who… wha?" He babbled as he slowly drifted back into reality and remembered the woman standing in his throne room. Turning to her he sighed. "Look Mal, she comes when she's done with the job. She's not really on a schedule or anything."

The mistress of evil glared at the god of the dead. "When she does return, you shall talk to her about her job. She's defeating our allies in quick succession and though they may be brainless minions, they are a necessity."

Hades nodded absentmindedly "With all due respect, they are kind of attacking her first. You might want to talk to your minions about working with her. I mean, hey, she's getting her job done, right?"

"I will do no such thing," Maleficent stated. "You will keep her in line or I will do it for you." With a final glare she disappeared from the room.

As the green smoke of Maleficent's exit dissipated it was slowly replaced by a red smoke. Hades couldn't help but envision the two vapors as some kind of odd Christmas tribute. The red cloud soon took the shape of the girl who had summoned it. Sahara stood in the Underworld before Hades and promptly began choking on her mode of transportation.

"I wondered when you'd show up" Hades muttered closing his eyes and leaning back in his throne with a smirk.

Wiping tears from her eyes and pushing the smoke away, Sahara finally found her voice. It seemed foreign and hoarse. "Why'd you even bring me back here?"

Hades opened an eye. "Not in charge of the transport anymore babe. You obviously just can't get enough of me."

"And you're obviously full of yourself," Sahara said rolling her eyes and sitting in "her" chair. "That second hand smoke kills me."

"You'll get use to it. And besides, if you were dead you'd actually have to listen to me," Sahara smirked slightly. "Speaking of which, is there a reason you're beating the crud out of my allies?"

"The other villains?" Sahara raised an eyebrow "Because they keep attacking me and my friends."

Hades closed his eyes again and mumbled "That's what I told her."

"Told who?"

"Ma.." Hades opened his eyes and sat up realizing his near slip "Never mind. Not a big deal. Haven't you got another world to get to?"

"Though I feel I'm repeating myself, you are a slave driver." Sahara sighed standing up and pulling the blue-black stone from her pocket.

Hades smirked as she exited, closing his eyes a final time and beginning to drift into much needed sleep. "Love you too babe."

* * *

As soon as the smoke cleared this time, Sahara found herself in a dimly lit alleyway in another time far from the one she usually frequented. Her clothing had transformed upon her arrival. She wondered if the camouflage was Hades doing. She wore a white off the shoulder blouse laced up with a bodice made of red and black paneling; a deep crimson cloak rested on her shoulders. From her hips hung layered skirts of various shades that brushed against her ankles. She even wore appropriate jewelry several bangles, golden chains around her neck and one large golden earring in her left ear. Finally her auburn hair was pulled back with a crimson sash. It didn't take long for Sahara to realize she had been transformed into a gypsy.

Self-analysis complete, Sahara found herself wondering if the dark red smoke pouring from the alleyway would cause her problems with unwanted guests. Sahara silently and cautiously walked down the alley and poked her head out into the deserted Parisian street. Not a soul was present except for a group of royal guard a few feet away.. Before she could turn around to devise a plan, a hand clamped over her mouth. Sahara screamed despite the obstruction and kicked back at her assailant. The attacker relinquished his hold and Sahara turned around and gasped.

"Ryan?" she questioned the man lying on the ground. He made a weak whine that resembled a 'yes'. Sahara got down on her knees and placed her hand on his shoulder not sure how to help "I'm so sorry, I didn't know….It's your fault for sneaking up on me." Ryan took a deep breath before slowly moving onto his hands and knees and then standing up. He glared down at her slightly but then smirked at Sahara's continued frantic attempts at apology.

Sahara stood up resisting laughter and allowed the injured man to lean on her for a moment. She realized he too was adorned in gypsy garb. Ryan wore an off white shirt cut low in the front, dingy black pants and matching boots. His brown hair was pulled back in a lose ponytail. "You okay now?" Sahara asked once it seemed he was breathing normally again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just don't do that again. Ever!"

Sahara laughed "You're such a wimp," she teased ducking away from him afraid of repercussions for her words. "So, where are we going? I figure the Court of Miracles is our best bet since we look like this" she explained indicating their gypsy attire.

Ryan nodded. "Makes sense to me, but how do we get there?"

"I figured you'd know. You're the one that always knows your way around these places." Sahara ran her hands through her hair thoughtfully.

"I have, I just haven't been there. Wait a second, what's that?" he asked pointing toward Sahara's neck. Her hands quickly reacted and she grabbed at the necklaces pulling them from beneath her shirt. Intertwined with the golden trinkets and the chain holding the four hearts she'd collected from the other worlds, was a single necklace with an oval shaped woven band hanging from it. The band had two stones inserted in it and a blue ring in the middle.

She looked at Ryan in understanding, pulled the necklace over her head and handed it to him. "A map of the city" he explained examining it "We're about here" he pointed. "So we need to head over to the cemetery here." Sahara nodded again replacing the necklace and the two headed down the alley bound for the haven of the Parisian gypsies.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Sahara asked as they made their way through the deserted cemetery. "Something doesn't feel right."

"You saw the map, it showed the graveyard and that mausoleum over there" he pointed to a crypt a few feet away from them. The two continued, sidestepping grave stones, and reached the large stone structure.

Sahara gulped, the knots in her stomach continuing to twist. "We have to move this, huh?" Ryan nodded. "On three then. 1..2..3" They both pushed on the large stone slab which fell besides the mock grave revealing a poorly lit stairwell.

"Ladies first," Ryan smiled. Sahara collected up her skirts and stepped down into the darkness but not before glaring at Ryan and silently cursing his name.

The catacombs leading to the Court of Miracles were everything Sahara had expected them to be. The long tunnel was lined with skulls and bones and she cringed with each step she took through the ankle deep water. She didn't even want to begin to think of what it was that made up the water or what could possibly be in it. The dank walkway was dimly lit by sporadically placed torches on the walls. As they continued trudging through the sewage Sahara felt a chill run down her spine. She hesitated, stopping in her tracks "Did you feel that?"

Ryan turned to face her, an eyebrow raised "What are you talking about?"

"It just…" Sahara couldn't explain herself. "Something's not right here. We should have been met by crazed noose wielding gypsies or a musical number or something. Its weird-ing me out."

"You wanted to be met by noose wielding gypsies? I would think not seeing them would be a plus. And last time you talked about musical numbers, the entire Chinese army began singing." he logically pointed out. Sahara rolled her eyes and continued wading.

"You know what I mean. Why is no one guarding this place? We should have been ambushed or run into some one by now and we haven't. There's something wr…" Sahara's thought was cut off as she spied something in her peripheral vision. Sloshing through the water to the nearest skeleton covered wall, she swallowed hard, closed her eyes, and reached into the pile of deteriorated carcasses. Her hand quickly found what it was looking for. In a matter of moments she had the key blade in her hand.

Ryan repulsed the urge to shudder as he walked over to the key barer "Feel safe now?" Sahara nodded holstering the blade in the belt around her waist.

"Why would you scum ever feel safe?" a voice spat from the darkness in front of the two vigilantes. Sahara tensed pulling the blade back out just in time to have her arm yanked behind her. She fought violently against her assailant but was quickly outnumbered by the unidentified foe. The key blade was ripped from her hand and she was forced down to her knees in the murky water. As her attackers bound her hands behind her, Sahara caught sight of Ryan next to her, undergoing the same "hospitable" treatment. Still struggling in vain, Sahara looked up to see the original speaker of the group.

She was surprised to see, not a gypsy, but a soldier of the royal guard. He sauntered up to her, a smug grin on his face. Sahara stared defiantly back at him. "What have we here?" he sneered tilting Sahara's chin up. She immediately pulled away from him as best she could "Such a pretty gypsy wench," he spat the final word glaring at his prey "Seems the boys forgot these two. What say we make an example out of them?" The men behind the captives laughed sinisterly before yanking Sahara and Ryan from the sludge and pulling them down through the catacombs.

When they reached the end of the catacomb, Sahara fought back the sudden urge to cry. It wasn't entirely because of the situation she found herself in; it was mostly provoked by the sight before her. The Court of Miracles, as the area was known, was in complete disarray. The site was littered with fabrics once bright and vibrant covered in grime. Destroyed possessions, splintered wood and other debris covered the area. Sahara knew that the soldiers who now held herself and Ryan prisoner had ransacked the sanctuary of the Parisian gypsies. As the guards continued dragging them forward Sahara realized where they were headed.

The gallows seemed to be the only thing in the court still completely intact. The leader of the soldiers stood on the platform with the same sinister smile he'd shown his hostages earlier. "Which one first, Pierre?" Sahara barely understood the words, too lost in her own thoughts.

Pierre, as the soldier had addressed him, rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment. "Bring me the girl. No use letting her suffer through seeing her boyfriend go first." The guards once again pushed her forward and up the stairs onto the scaffolding. Pierre moved closer to Sahara pulling her to the very center of the twisted stage. "Ah, mademoiselle, it is so sad you must be going so soon. Have you any last requests?"

Sahara continued glaring as he began placing a rope around her neck, "Of course I do, let me go!" The soldier chuckled slightly before pulling the rope tighter. Sahara swallowed impulsively, her throat tight "Or at least make this looser."

"My dear in a few moments, it will not matter." He whispered evilly into her ear with a devilish smile. Sahara made eye contact with Ryan. He was struggling against his captors looking more worried than Sahara felt. She tried her best to look reassuring enough for both of them, not sure who she was trying to convince. Pierre spoke again.

"Well good men, this gypsy harlot has been found guilty of treachery, theft and numerous other injustices." Sahara ignored the fact that she hadn't been given a trial or actually committed any of the said crimes and instead focused on the man in front of her, his hands dangerously close to the lever that could end her life. "She has been sentenced to death by hanging. We shall pray for your soul gypsy." With that he grabbed the lever and pulled it. The platform beneath Sahara's feet disappeared.

* * *

It took a few moments for Sahara to process all that happened in the five seconds that had started with a lever being pulled and ended with her lying in the dirt underneath the scaffolding. When the floor vanished, Sahara's life began moving in slow motion. She felt herself begin to fall, she watched the evil sneer of the ten or so guards surrounding her, she locked eyes with the shell shocked Ryan and when she had almost completely reached the end of her rope, literally, she saw the arrow cut through the air. Her next vision was of the dirt covered ground underneath the gallows. The noose still hung around her neck and her wrists were still bound but what interested Sahara more was that she was alive. That and the sounds of battle around her.

Quickly making her way back out into court, Sahara assessed the situation. The soldiers had been ambushed by what remained of the Parisian gypsies. Sahara turned just in time to narrowly miss the attack of one such soldier. She ducked as he attacked again and then turned so that his blade slashed through the ropes around her wrist. Pulling her hands free she dodged another attack and punched the man squarely in the jaw. He reeled back in both pain and surprise giving Sahara enough time to pull his blade from his hands. She delivered a final blow with the handle of the sword to the top of his head. As the man fell, Sahara ripped the noose from her neck and turned to the rest of the battle. Continuing to lay waste to the soldiers that dare attack her, Sahara finally spied the key blade across the battlefield from her. Impulsively her right arm shot out. The key blade, as if called by some invisible force, whizzed out of the enemies grasp and straight into Sahara's open palm.

New weapon in hand, the girl turned just in time to see Pierre lunging at her. Sahara sidestepped; her arm barely nicked by the sharp blade of his sword, and countered his attack. The two continued their duel, neither giving way to the others' attacks. Sahara felt the presence of another person and turned in time to offset a second attacker. Pierre saw his window of opportunity and stabbed at the key barer.

Sahara faltered as the blade entered her side, just below her ribs. Instinctually she swung the key blade at the captain of the guard landing a successful blow to his head. Her next attack made contact with his stomach managing to knock the wind out of him for a few precious seconds. As she felt the first waves of dizziness pass over her, she quickly rendered the second soldier unconscious. Sahara fell to her knees as the pain in her side increased. Pierre stood, sword in hand, ready to finish off his prey, when suddenly he was attacked by one of Sahara's allies.

Sahara struggled to remain conscious clutching her side as her pale hands were soon covered with scarlet. As her eyelids grew heavy she looked up to see Ryan, his eyes now more worried than when she faced earlier execution. She felt him pick her up and begin yelling for help. Sahara leaned closer to his chest before slipping into darkness.

* * *

_**In you and I**_

_**There's a new land**_

_The staircase twisted in front of her, seemingly endless. _

_Sahara took a deep breath and began running. _

_Key blade in her outstretched hand _

_She annulated any heartless that dare attack her._

_**Angels in flight**_

_**My Sanctuary, My sanctuary**_

_She kept running, _

_Heart pounding in her ears _

_The stairs were infinite _

_She had lost count after three-hundred and twenty._

_**Where Fears and Lies**_

_**Melt Away**_

_She wasn't alone_

_The sense of dread filled her_

_Darkness behind her_

_The stairs disappeared_

_**Music makes light**_

_**What's left of me, What's left of me now**_

_She fell through the darkness_

_A thousand voices filling her ears and her mind_

_She closed her eyes and shut it all out_

_Behind her eyes one thing was clear_

_**You showed me **_

_**How to see that nothing is whole**_

_**And nothing is broken**_

_He stood before her dressed in gold and white_

_One hand outstretched waiting for her acceptance_

_Sahara took the offer; warmth filling her body_

_And her eyes shot open._

_**My fears, my lies**_

* * *

When Sahara came to, she wasn't sure if she was actually alive. She figured since Hades wasn't waking her ruthlessly and taunting her for dying then she must in fact be among the living. She slowly opened one eye and then the other and stared at the cloth ceiling above her. Sahara had been placed on a bed consisting of various oddly shaped pillows. Her midsection was wrapped in tight bandages and she had several blankets covering her. Ignoring her own intuition, Sahara tried to sit up. She was soon reminded of the wound in her side and hissed in pain before lying back on the bed.

"Some how I knew you were going to do that," a kind, yet sarcastic female voice chided her. Sahara turned her head to her side enough to see a gypsy sitting in the corner of the tent on a small stool. She wore a white shirt off her shoulders with a teal and gold bodice and a long purple skirt. Her ebony hair was pulled back in a light pink scarf. She smiled at Sahara.

Sahara chuckled "You know us key bearers, can't wait to put ourselves in more pain than necessary. Who are you?"

The girl laughed though her green eyes held an unspoken concern, "I'm sorry, I'm Esmeralda." She said sitting on the edge of the makeshift bed that had been created for Sahara.

Sahara smiled at her, "So, how bad is it?"

"You or the situation at hand?" the gypsy questioned pulling down the blankets and checking Sahara's bandages.

"Either…Both….which ever's more pressing"

The girl smiled again, "Well, neither were looking too good until you woke up. Those men that attacked you were some of Judge Frollo's goons. About an hour before you got here, they came into the court of miracles and took all the gypsies hostage. They were really looking for me." She sighed, the weight of causing such trouble weighing upon her psyche. "I knew they were coming and hurried to warn the court, but before I got there they took all the other gypsies and my…friend, Phoebus instead. Only myself and Clopin, the gypsy king, managed to escape the soldiers. We came back to see what provisions we could find or if anyone was left when we saw you and your friend."

Sahara winced slightly holding up the edge of her blouse as Esmeralda continued inspecting her wound, "So, we need to free Phoebus and the other gypsies and stop Frollo?" she asked running scenarios through her head and trying to ignore her pain.

"You're not going anywhere for a long while. You need to heal" Sahara sighed though she appreciated the girl's concern.

Suddenly a thought popped into her head, "Hey, Esme, can I call you Esme? Can you grab me the key blade?" Sahara subconsciously kicked herself for how much she sounded like a particular lord of the dead at that point in time, but Esmeralda nodded and grabbed the blade from the floor near the entrance to the tent. Sahara sat up slowly and took the blade from the gypsy. Once again relying on what she had dubbed "key blade intuition", Sahara took the key in both hands and lightly pressed the tip of it against the gash in her side. A bright light poured from the end of the blade and spilled into the girls wound. Sahara gasped at the burning sensation caused by her actions and lost her grasp on the key blade. The blade hit the ground with a resounding clang and Sahara closed her eyes and held her side, breathing deeply.

"Are you…are you okay?" Esmeralda asked eyes wide with confusion.

Sahara opened an eye with a slight smile and nodded, "I think I just need some more sleep." Esmeralda nodded with her own smile as Sahara felt sleep take over her mind.

* * *

The second time Sahara woke up from her pain induced sleep, she could feel someone next to her. She slowly opened her eyes to see the same brightly colored tent above her. The next thing the girl's eyes fell upon was another gypsy. He was older than Esmeralda by a good many years and he was clad in purple and blue from head to toe. A large purple hat sat a top his black hair, a yellow feather resting in it. His brown eyes stared off into nothingness before realizing the girl next to him was awake. The man snapped from his trance before turning to Sahara with a smirk. "Nice to see you awake mademoiselle. How do you feel?"

Sahara sat up slowly, conscious of her injuries and found that the pain had subsided considerably. "Much better, actually. I'm a little dizzy but I think I'm pretty much healed up. Where did Esmeralda go?"

"She's out with your friend, Ryan, finding more supplies and plotting our next course of action. I was left to watch over you. I am Clopin Troullifou, king of the gypsies." The man explained with a smile.

Sahara laughed. "It's a pleasure to meet you, your highness."

Clopin shook his head "No, it is truly I who have the pleasure here. It is not often a key bearer honors our world with their presence let alone as one of us lowly gypsies."

The gypsy king's smirk caused Sahara to laugh again her face flushing slightly, "Honestly, I'm just glad I can be of service."

"That is good to hear." A deep seriousness filled his brown eyes. "You could not have come at a better time mon cherie."

"Esmeralda, told me some of it. Has anything chanced since I talked to her?" Sahara asked.

"No, as I said, strategies are being discussed" he explained "I will go wait for Esmeralda and Ryan to return, you can get dressed and join me when you are ready."

"Thank you," Sahara smiled again at the gypsy king as he left the tent.

* * *

As Sahara and Clopin talked about both the situation at hand and their lives up until that point, Ryan and Esmeralda finally returned. Soon, the four "outlaws" had gathered around a small fire to plot their next course of action.

"Frollo has said if Esmeralda does not surrender herself before dawn, he will slaughter all his gypsy captives starting with his treacherous captain of the guards." Clopin explained.

Sahara sighed, "We're not letting them have Esme!"

"Of course not," Ryan agreed. "And I don't think he knows you or I are here."

"That's an advantage," Sahara reasoned. "Do we know where he's keeping the gypsies?"

Esmeralda shook her head, "We're not sure, but we believe in the Palace of Justice."

There was a collective sigh as everyone retreated to their own thoughts. Finally Ryan spoke, "We don't have enough force here to take them on alone. We barely beat the guards here and we nearly lost Sahara."

Sahara tried to ignore the hint of fear in her friend's voice and his concerned glances aimed at her. She knew he was worried about her, but not how much until that moment. Clopin's voice cut through her thoughts, "I agree, but we have no other allies. We are gypsy scourge as you may well know."

Silence overtook the group again, "That's not entirely true," Esmeralda said. Ryan and Clopin looked to the girl in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Ryan asked.

"I have a friend who may be able to help us," Esmeralda elucidated, "He has enough man power to give us a fighting chance, but he might need some convincing."

Sahara smiled, catching on to Esmeralda's idea. "If you're talking about who I think you're talking about, then you're right. We may make it through all of this all right with his help."

"Can one of you cryptic Mademoiselles fill us in?" Clopin asked, eyebrow raised.

Sahara looked between the gypsy king and Ryan then to Esmeralda with a smirk, "Grab all we'll need. We're heading to Notre Dame"

* * *

The streets of Paris were as deserted as they had been when Sahara had traversed them. Despite this or maybe because of it, the four gypsies clung to the shadows and the sanctuary of desolate back alleys. Luckily, at this moment, the heartless, soldiers and other such baddies that would hinder their mission were nowhere to be seen. They slunk through the darkness until the cathedral was in sight. The building was large and foreboding as if watching over the sleeping city. Four guards patrolled in front of it's large doors.

At the end of the alley, Clopin addressed the group "There's no more cover from here to Notre Dame. We shall wait until the patrol passes by us and then make a dash for the cathedral." The others nodded in agreement and all attention was turned to the lingering patrol officers. Once the men finished their conversation they split in two directions and continued down the street. "Move," Clopin whispered.

The four outlaws raced at full speed toward the cathedral door. Sahara drew the key blade in case of emergency as they ran up the stairs. The door to the sanctuary was miraculously unlocked and Ryan heaved it open allowing his accomplices to race inside.

The interior of the cathedral was more amazing than Sahara had envisioned. Having never been to Paris or the "real" Notre Dame, she had nothing to compare it against. None the less the architecture was breathtaking. The entire building was lit with hundreds of candles casting eerie shadows on the walls and distorting distances. The vigilantes continued silently through the church as not to make themselves noticed by the late night parishioners or the Arch Deacon himself.

Esmeralda led the way to a staircase hidden behind a large wooden door. The four gypsies hurried up the winding stairs and into the bell tower. "Quasi?!" she called once they reached the top. "I'll go talk to him first and explain the situation" Esmeralda said before climbing up a ladder to a higher part of the tower.

Not sure what to do with themselves, the others exchanged nervous smiles. Sahara took it upon herself to continue exploring the lower level. She soon came upon one of the largest bells she had ever seen. A smile crossed her face as she continued toward the golden monstrosity. She ducked low and came up on the inside of the bell.

"What are you doing in there?" Ryan's voice seemed further away than just outside the bell. Sahara peeked her head out slightly and grinned at him. His expression softened as she grabbed his hand and pulled him under the bell with her. "Is there a reason we're under here?" Now his voice was magnified and echoed deafeningly.

Sahara shrugged, "Nope, just thought it was cool." She sat cross-legged on the floor directly beneath the bell and looked up at Ryan. "I'm easily amused. It's about time you learned that.

"I feel there are a lot of things I haven't learned about you yet, Ms. Sahara. You're a complicated individual," He admitted sitting down next to her.

Sahara shrugged again. "I lived a boring life, I ended up here and now I beat up bad guys until I can get little blue hearts." She explained tapping her necklace to emphasize her point. "You on the other hand, sir, are the true mystery."

"Same boat as you. Boring life, summoned to help you, and now I help you beat up bad guys until you can get those little blue hearts" he pointed to Sahara's necklace in the same manner she had with a grin on his face. Sahara smiled back at him. They both had much more they could possibly tell one another, but neither could quite find the right words. Instead an awkward silence filled the bell.

After an agonizing few moments the silence was broken as Clopin poked his head under the bell. "There you two are. Esmeralda has finished talking with Quasimodo. She wants to introduce us." Ryan and Sahara quickly ducked out from under the bell and followed the gypsy king to meet their new ally.

Following the same path Esmeralda had to the upper portion of the bell tower, the three soon emerged in front of the notorious bell ringer of Notre Dame. Though she knew she shouldn't stare, Sahara couldn't help assessing the man in front of her. In actuality he was all she expected. Quasimodo stood at just over half of Sahara's full height but he was bent over. He was garbed in a dingy green tunic and brown leggings. His red hair fell shaggily over light blue eyes set back in his disfigured face. Though he was deformed he was not as horrific as Sahara could have imagined. He looked at Sahara in confusion as well for a brief moment.

Seeing the tension, Esmeralda quickly cut in. "Quasi, these are my friends Sahara, Ryan and Clopin. We all need your help." Quasimodo looked up at Esmeralda before turning his attention back to Sahara.

"You're the palest gypsy I've ever seen." The hunchback finally said. Sahara couldn't help laughing and caught the others laughing as well.

"I could say the same about you" she muttered as she turned back around. The light glinted off of her key blade and immediately caught Quasimodo's attention.

He looked from the blade at her hip to Sahara's face in confusion. "What is that?"

Sahara looked down at her hip in confusion for a moment having grown accustom to the blade attached to her side. She pulled it from her belt and held it out for Quasiomodo to see. "It's called a key blade."

Sahara watched as Quasimodo's eyes suddenly filled with an angry fire. Without warning, he charged at Sahara who darted to the side to avoid him. Ryan and Clopin rushed to her aid, attempting to restrain the man at least ten times stronger than their combined force. Esmeralda ran in front of Sahara providing a final shield behind her and the rampaging Quasimodo. "Quasi!" she snapped. "What's wrong with you?"

"Her!" he growled, causing Sahara to shrink back behind Esmeralda more. "Frollo said a key bearer would be coming to help him destroy the gypsy vermin. She's his ally."

The four gypsies exchanged confused glances. Sahara silently wondered if this had been an attempt by Hades to sabotage her constant destruction of his cohorts. Esmeralda was the first to speak, being the most likely to talk sense into her friend "She's not helping Frollo, Quasi. She's our friend. She fought against Frollo's men earlier and nearly got herself killed."

"I have the scares to prove it" Sahara added, stepping from behind Esmeralda "Look, I can't give you any reason to trust me, other than my word and the fact that being dressed like this, I don't think Frollo would even associate with me." She smiled genuinely, hoping the man could tell she was honest.

He continued to give her the same assessing stare for a few more seconds before locking eyes with her. The two silently stared one another down for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly a silent truce was struck between them and they turned to the others. Quasimodo spoke first, "All right then. I'll help you defeat Frollo. Have you got a plan?"

* * *

After explaining what little of a plan they had concocted to Quasimodo, the rescue party moved out of the cathedral, bound for the Palace of Justice. Though it seemed Frollo had upped his security since his guards had returned from the Court, the five outlaws easily snuck through the streets and were soon hiding mere feet from the stronghold.

"I'll create a distraction and then we can run for it." Sahara explained to the others. She pulled the key blade from her belt and aimed it a few feet from the palace. Closing her eyes and concentrating, a white hot bolt shot from the end of the blade and down the street. The two guards in front of the prison looked at each other before taking off toward the disturbance. The gypsies saw their opportunity and raced for the door of the Palace of Justice. Sahara opened the large metal door with the key blade and the five dashed inside.

The interior of the Palace of Justice was just as drab and depressing as the exterior. The halls were a dark gray and seemed endless. As they walked it was decided that splitting up would ensure better results. Esmeralda, Quasimodo and Ryan agreed to keep a lookout on the upper level so Clopin and Sahara could sneak into the basement where the prisoners were likely to be held.

An overwhelming sense of dread slowly overtook Sahara's mind as she and the gypsy king continued through the Palace of Justice. The stark hallway soon gave way to a more open space. The walls were lined with small cells as drab as the halls. Sahara and Clopin peered in each cell but were all empty. "Over here" Clopin called. Sahara rushed over, the sound of her approach causing the prison to stir. The man sat up, blonde hair falling over his light brown eyes as he stared at Sahara and Clopin in confusion. He grunted as he slowly stoop up, holding his left arm. Besides the apparent wound, the man looked no worse for wear. He wore a long dingy white shirt and brown pants, his face was smudged with dirt and grime Leaning hard against the wall of the cell for support he continued to stare at the others.

"Are you Phoebus?" Sahara asked, hesitantly.

"Yes…" he drawled, "Who are you?" Before an answer was given, Sahara had placed the key blade against the cells lock. A white light poured from the blade and the door disappeared.

Clopin and Sahara rushed into the cell and each grabbed one of the wounded man's arms. "We're friends of Esmeralda and we're here to help." Sahara explained with a reassuring smile.

"But, you have the key blade. I thought you were working with Frollo. He keeps babbling about how he'll be able to destroy the gypsy scum with the help of the key bearer. No offence," he told Clopin who nodded with a smile.

As they started out of the cell and down the hallway, Sahara rolled her eyes and groaned "Why does everyone think I'd work with him? I pride myself on associating with the "scum". Let's get out of here before the xenophobe finds us."

"You may have spoken too soon, mon chere." Clopin informed her staring off down the hall.

Before them stood the one person Sahara had hoped to avoid in all of Paris. The Minister of Justice was an older man in long black and purple robes. He had thinning white hair and a look of extreme hatred aimed directly at the escaping trio. "A rescue attempt? I thought I'd disposed of all your vermin friends."

Sahara carefully moved away from Phoebus and drew the key blade. She yelled to Clopin, "Get him out of here and get the others."

When she turned back she saw Frollo's attention focused on the key blade. "What is the meaning of this?" he bellowed. "She said you would assist me!"

Turning back to him, as the men took off, Sahara smirked, "Sorry, buddy, the gypsies got to me first."

"Insolent wench!" he exclaimed drawing his own sword. "You are not worthy of such power. I shall see that it is placed in more capable hands." As the man raced toward her, Sahara readied herself to fight. Though he was older, Frollo was not quite the pushover she had hoped him to be. The hatred burning within him seemed to fuel his strength, but Sahara was able to counter his every attack and get in a few of her own.

The battle was leaning in Sahara's favor when she felt another's presence. She turned just in time to dodge the blade of one of Frollo's soldiers. Somehow, as they had battled, Frollo had managed to call in the back up of five of his guards. As the odds quickly began to turn against her, Sahara fought back with all her strength. She had managed to subdue three of the attackers and take only minimal damage but the others and the hate filled attacks of Frollo were becoming too much. After a desperate attack, Sahara was thrown to the ground, the key blade sent flying several feet from her. As she attempted to get up, Frollo stood over her, his sword aimed at her throat. "I'm sorry it must end this way…" Frollo began as he raised his sword to deliver the final blow. Suddenly the man was violently shoved away from Sahara. She looked up to see Quasimodo standing above her. He extended a hand and helped her to her feet. The two nodded at each other and then returned to the battle. With the arrival of back up, Sahara focused her attention on Frollo, while Ryan, Clopin and Esmeralda dealt with the residual guards. Phoebus stood propped up against a far wall.

Before Sahara could begin her final assault on the villain, however, she turned to see several swords aimed directly at herself and her accomplices. More of Frollo's reinforcements had made their way to the dungeon. Twenty-some guards stood encircling the heroes Sahara groaned and dropped her weapon to the ground. The key blade made a loud clang as it hit the stone floor.

"Place these vermin in a cell." He instructed with a sinister grin to the guards at they grabbed Sahara, Esmeralda, Ryan and Clopin. "They shall be our guests of honor at the bonfire tonight." He laughed sending an evil look in Esmeralda's direction. "Take the Captain back to his private chamber. Take Quasimodo back to the bell tower and make sure he doesn't get out this time."

Sahara's temper finally snapped "You coward! Can't even fight us on your own! You're a racist judgmental power wielding fool!" As the last word escaped her lips the back of Frollo's hand made contact with her cheek. Sahara was more shocked than hurt, though her cheek throbbed. She attempted to lunge at him but was help back by the guards.

"Take them away!" Following their orders, the guards grabbed the fugitives and drug them down the hall. Esmeralda was placed in her own cell as was Phoebus. Quasimodo was taken in an opposite direction more than likely back to the bell tower.

The halls were silent aside from the smart click of the guard's boots on the stony ground. Another cell was opened and the three remaining vigilantes were unceremoniously thrown inside. As the door locked, Clopin and Ryan both stood up and dusted themselves off. Sahara, on the other hand, sat against the wall with her legs pulled up to her chin and her head buried in her knees. She didn't move. Clopin and Ryan exchanged worried glances, not sure what to make of the situation. Still unsure, Ryan apprehensively placed a hand on her shoulder. He felt her tremble under his hand and realized she was crying. Ryan looked to the gypsy king for advise but he simply shrugged, as surprised by the development as Ryan. Crouching down on his knees in front of her, Ryan lightly took Sahara's chin and raised her head up to meet his gaze. Several tears escaped her eyes before she began sobbing uncontrollably, falling into her friend's arms. Trying his hardest to appear reassuring, Ryan held the crying girl close. After a few moments, Sahara pulled away, taking a deep breath and brushing away her tears. Both men waited patiently for the key bearer to regain her composure, before either attempted to ask any of the questions filling their heads.

"I'm sorry" she mumbled.

Clopin shook his head. "Do not apologize moi chere. Are you all right?"

"I.." Sahara looked up at him, trying to explain her sudden outburst. "I'm fine. I just.. sorry."

"He told you not to be sorry, Sahara." Ryan smiled at her "You're allowed to break down if you need to."

Sahara laughed bitterly, "No I'm not. I'm the key bearer. I'm suppose to be strong and I'm not suppose to have my butt handed to me by someone as pathetic as Frollo."

Both men looked at her. Ryan spoke first, "Sahara, that's not fair…"

"Yes it is. You know it is. We don't have to sugar coat it here. I keep screwing up. I keep nearly dying here… I'm not even sure why I'm doing this" she lamented, pulling her legs up to her chin again and burying her head in her hands.

"You're doing this because it is your destiny, Sahara," Clopin tried to rationalize as he sat next to her. "You are the best person for the job and you can't expect to always excel. Don't dwell on the past moi chere. Look to the future and how we're going to save Esmeralda.

Sahara sighed leaning on Ryan's shoulder. "I officially feel selfish. I'm sor.." she began but realized she'd immediately be yelled at if she continued "I'm fine now. Let's pretend that didn't happen" She smiled, half serious.

"All right then," The gypsy king returned her half smile, understanding this was not necessarily the end of this conversation. "Let's try to get some sleep. We've a few hours before the real battle begins."

* * *

Sahara wasn't sure quite how long she had actually slept during those hours. Her thoughts had been plagued with self doubt, futile and ludicrous escape plans, and the underlying notion that good or bad, this would all be over soon. Before she knew it, the sound of footsteps and keys infiltrated the blackness behind her closed eyes. Having fallen asleep lying in Ryan's lap, Sahara sat up slowly. Her arm was unceremoniously grabbed and she was pulled to her feet, soon facing a new group of guards. The head soldier gave a curt nod to his fellow guards and they took the three prisoners down the brick hallway to their fate.

* * *

The crimson tinge of sunrise was just beginning to illuminate the sky as the prisoners were shoved, along with the rest of the Parisian gypsies, into makeshift cages set up outside Notre Dame. In front of the cathedral, constructed seeming overnight was a large scaffold. Esmeralda stood in the center of the wooden platform tied to a large stake her vibrant eyes dulled as Frollo's lackeys continued throwing timber at her feet. Frollo began his proclamations "The prisoner Esmeralda has been found guilty of the crime of witch craft. The sentence: Death!" The gypsies jeered from their prisons as did many of the Parisian citizens gathered. Cries of outrage and for justice resounded as the villagers tried to make their voices heard by the throng of soldiers attempting to keep the peace.

The doors to the cathedral opened revealing the Arch Deacon. He too looked outraged but was stopped by the guards set to watch the cathedral. Frollo took a lit torch smiling evilly and stalking toward Esmeralda. Sahara leaned as close as she could to the cage bars, attempting to hear his quite words. She only heard, "…Choose me or the fire." The words sent a chill through her spine as Esmeralda spit on the lecherous man. He raised his torch. "The gypsy, Esmeralda has refused to recant. This evil witch has put the soul of every citizen in Paris in awful jeopardy."

Frollo continued to drone on, speaking of vice and sin and the gypsy cur, but Sahara had long since tuned him out. She glanced around searching for anything to quickly and effectively save everyone's skins. The soldier guarding their cage had Sahara's key blade at his hip. Sahara knew she could take the weapon from him fairly easily, but didn't feel a disturbance like that would bode well just yet. Frollo was so insane at this point he might very well just start massacring everyone. Her gaze fell on Phoebus a few cages down. His eyes were glued to Esmeralda, anger and helplessness visible in his stance. Sahara knew time was running short. She contemplated banging her head against the metal bars until she formed a plan before her but knew it would do little good.

His speech finished, Frollo had dropped his torch onto the pile of kindling at Esmeralda's feet. It quickly ignited sending dark smoke pluming toward the sky. As she watched in shock at the orange flames beginning to lick at the gypsy's feet, Sahara's attention was suddenly diverted up to the highest tower of the cathedral. As if Notre Dame herself were crying out against Frollo's injustice, the bells had begun to ring. Not loudly enough to cause anyone else to notice, it seemed, but their intensity was growing. Sahara caught herself smiling.

"Sahara, we need to do something." Ryan voice caught Sahara off guard. Having been lost in her own thoughts she had nearly forgotten her friend's presence. His words, however, betrayed his usual calm and Sahara knew he was feeling as helpless as she was. Sahara simply shook her head knowing her interference this time would only cause chaos. She had grown tired of not letting things happen along their natural courses, worried she might be slowly messing up this universe she didn't even belong in. This time she needed them to try and save themselves first. Quasimodo needed to prove his independence and love and she would not interfere. The look on Ryan's face told her he didn't follow.

"I…" she began unsure of how to explain herself. "Just trust me."

He nodded warily but Sahara knew he wouldn't question her decision. The fire beneath Esmeralda's feet had been lit and she was now battling for oxygen; she was quickly losing the battle. The crowd gasped as something began a descent from the bell tower. In one foul swoop, the Hunchback of Notre Dame swung over the sea of Parisians and landed on the scaffold. He ran to Esmeralda, ripping the ropes from her now limp body and pulling her free. As guards began to make their way up onto the stage, Quasimodo grabbed the stake Esmeralda had been tethered to and knocked them away. He grabbed the rope he had just swung down on he took a running leap from the scaffold with Esmeralda over his shoulder. The crowds continued to roar as Quasimodo held onto the building and began ascending its façade.

Quasimodo stood before the crowd, backlit by the cathedrals largest stained glass window. Raising Esmeralda triumphantly above his head he cried out, "Sanctuary!" It resounded from the rooftop and was met with overwhelming cries and applause.

The hunchback retreated into the bell tower prompting Frollo to send his guards after him. As the men made their way toward the door, a large wooden beam fell from the tower, destroying Frollo's carriage and sending the soldiers scattering. Ryan looked to Sahara pointedly. She nodded and stretched her hand through the bars of the cage toward the soldier guarding them. The key blade began to rise from the soldiers belt, he grabbed at it attempting to keep it in his possession to no avail. The blade flew up into Sahara's hand. She swiped it at the lock which vanished. Ryan pushed the door open, helping the other gypsies and then Sahara out of the cage. She jumped down into his arms with a smile, "I should just start trusting you, huh?" he asked. Before Sahara could respond she heard Phoebus's voice.

Sahara and Ryan turned to see Phoebus standing atop his former prison "Citizens of Paris! Frollo has persecuted our people, ransacked our city! Now he had declared war on Notre Dame herself! Will we allow it?" The crowd roared in outrage; a new found energy and strength coursed through them. They pushed past the soldiers that had blocked their way ready to attack their common enemy. Before Sahara knew it, the rest of the gypsies had been freed and they, along with the other citizens, began their assault on Frollo's army. Phoebus jumped down from the cart and the melee had begun.

Without warning Ryan pulled Sahara down to avoid an attacking soldier. Sahara jumped up spun and smacked the soldier in the face with the key blade. She turned back to Ryan only to see Clopin now standing next to him. "What's the plan moi chere?" Ryan did a double take not having noticed the gypsy king next to him.

"I have to get in there before he kills Quasi and Esmeralda." Sahara explained.

Ryan nodded, "Then let's go. We'll cover you." Sahara smiled and began making her way though the crowd with her back up.

The battle had intensified far quicker than Sahara had expected. At some point Frollo must have had time to call forth heartless as the dark evil creatures were now mixed in the crowd of guards, gypsies and regular citizens. Sahara pushed through the throng attacking the guards and heartless and dodging brinks, pigeons and other things that had begun falling from the cathedral. "Nice moves," a strained sarcastic voice commented as Sahara kicked high at the nearest guard sending him reeling backwards.

Sahara turned to see Phoebus who smiled as he took out another guard. "What can I say?" She called back slicing through a heartless as it jumped toward her. "You're speech inspired me."

Phoebus grabbed Sahara's arm pulling her out of harms way and attacking another heartless. "We've got to hurry." Sahara nodded as the two continued through the battle ground. She had lost sight of Ryan and Clopin moments before and was thankful for the new help.

Soon they had hacked and slashed their way nearer to the cathedral, inches away from the front steps. Sahara looked up only too see a red liquid spewing from the tower. Pushing Phoebus out the way, she sprinted toward the safely of the cathedrals over hanging roof. The molten liquid hit the ground, creating an impenetrable moat around the church. Sahara held her breath pressing as close to the building as she possibly could. As the flow stopped she spied Ryan on the other side. He pushed off his attacker and shouted to her, "Go! Stop Frollo!" She shook her head quickly and carefully making her way through the small forced entry way into the cathedral

* * *

Running toward the main staircase, Sahara gasped at the body lying at the foot. She raced over to the man, grabbing his arm and helping him stand up "Are.. you okay?"

The arch deacon coughed as he leaned heavily on Sahara's shoulder. "Do not worry about me, my child. You must stop Frollo, for the sake of Notre Dame." Sahara heard the faint sound of the upstairs door locking and turned back to the deacon.

"Is there another way up there?"

* * *

Sahara didn't like this at all. As she made her way along the roof of the cathedral, she found herself, once again, taking Hades name in vain. She secretly hoped that it hurt him every time she turned her venomous thoughts toward it. Holding the key blade in both hands to give herself strength. She carefully continued on, watching out for any signs of Frollo.

As if having been called to her very thought process, Frollo jumped around the corner in front of Sahara. "You!" He cried. "You'll have to do." He charged at Sahara who held up her blade in a defensive position. The steel clanged as Sahara counter acted his weight and sent the man reeling dangerously close to the edge of the cathedral. As he steadied himself he leaned back over railing and yelled "Leaving so soon?"

He swung his sword down. "Hang on." Sahara heard Quasimodo's voice and instantly understood. She charged at Frollo who turned just in time to block her attack.

"Why won't you gypsy's simply die?!"

Sahara knew she need to stall in order to help Quasi and Esmeralda. "What can I say?" she asked lunging at him again and hitting him square in the stomach. "We're like cockroaches."

Out of the corner of her eye, Sahara saw Esmeralda's feet land back on cathedral ground. Quasimodo had managed to pull himself up onto a stone gargoyle. Frollo must have seen it too because in the split second her attention was diverted he grabbed Sahara's arm and pulled her close to him, his sword at her neck.

"I should have known you'd risk your life to save these gypsy witches, just like your own mother died trying to save you." The shock and hurt on Quasimodo's face made Sahara's heart ache. She struggled against Frollo as he continued his diatribe, "Now I'm going to do what I should have done twenty years ago!" In one motion he pushed Sahara away from him sending her toppling over the edge of the cathedral.

She caught the bottom part of the roof's railing in time to save herself. As Quasimodo reached out to help her she saw the looming figure of Frollo coming closer to the hunchback. "Look out!" she shouted. Quasimodo looked up in time to see Frollo's cape swing at him. As he fell backwards he grabbed onto the cape, catching Frollo off guard and pulling him down as well. Quasimodo held tight to the cape reluctant to let the man who had raised him die. Sahara held out her empty hand to the key blade which flew to her. She plunged it into the side of the cathedral and using all of her upper body strength, pulled herself up closer to the top railing.

Esmeralda grabbed Quasimodo's hand trying her best too keep him from falling. As she struggled Frollo's evil laughter could be heard resonating above the cathedral. He had managed to swing himself up onto one of the buildings fixtures and stood sword raised above his head. His eyes were wide and evil; cool confidence long gone. "And he shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!"

"Not today!" Sahara yelled as she swung her key blade at him. Frollo lost his balance, falling back onto the stone fixture he had perched on. Suddenly, the stone gave way sending the villain falling from the tower.

As Sahara watched him fall her attention shot back to the more dire situation at hand. Esmeralda struggled to keep hold of Quasimodo wanting him to avoid the grim fate of his master. Sahara raced back over to her just as Quasi's hand slipped from her grasp. "No!" Esmeralda cried. Sahara peered over the edge in shock but watched as Quasimodo fell into the open arms of Phoebus a few feet below them. The girls shared an excited smile before racing down through the cathedral.

Once down stairs, Esmeralda ran to Quasimodo grabbing him in a tight embrace. As the pulled away, Quasi grabbed Phoebus's hand and placed Esmeralda's in it with a smile. Sahara smiled as she slowly made her way over. She patted Quasimodo affectionately on the back as Phoebus and Esmeralda shared a relived kiss. "Let's say we get out of here," She suggested.

* * *

Phoebus threw open the door of the cathedral to tremendous applause. The river of lava had cleared, the sun was shining and one could hardly tell a battle had taken place just moments before. Phoebus grabbed Esmeralda's hand and raised it triumphantly. Still not having much of a love for approval. Sahara followed them out quickly smiling at the crowd and running over to the waiting Ryan. He grabbed her in a hug when she reached him. "What was that for?"

"For being alive." Sahara gave him a puzzled look. "The fighting stopped while you all were hanging around up there. We watched the whole thing. Pretty amazing."

Sahara smiled "Careful Ryan, you might make people think you like me or something." Ryan smiled as well.

* * *

Later that night, the survivors of the Battle for Notre Dame all headed back to the Court of Miracles to celebrate and start rebuilding their homes. The gypsies danced and sang and kept everyone's spirits high. They did have much to celebrate. Quasimodo had been accepted by the people of Paris, the gypsies had been able to return home, and a tyrant had been overthrown.

Sahara sat near one of the Court's many burning fire's that night thoughtfully sipping from a mug of some foreign sweet liquid and staring into the dancing flames. She laughed to herself at the irony that these same flames had almost killed her new friend. She wondered if she had issues. She barely noticed as Clopin sat down next to her "Might I trouble you for your thoughts, mademoiselle?"

Sahara shook her head as if rattling her brain back to reality. "They're not that interesting." She admitted, stretching her arms out above her head. "I just think it's funny that every time we finish a battle it's time for a celebration."

"And why not, moi chere? The pain is in the past now and we are all alive. We all mourn losses in our own way. Sometimes the easiest way is to celebrate our own lives."

Sahara paused for a moment, "I think that's the most logical thing I've heard in a while."

"Well if you are in agreement than you must join us." Clopin said jumping to his feet and offering a hand to Sahara. "Regale us with a song, Key blade mistress."

Sahara laughed, accepting his hand and getting to her feet. "Thank you, but I can't, I don't sing."

Clopin looked shocked at her refusal. "But you must," He sputtered. "You've been asked to participate by the king. And all women of this world can sing."

Sahara's eyebrow rose, "Firstly, I'm not from here and secondly, I really couldn't."

"Come on Sahara, we want to hear you." Sahara turned to see Ryan looking at her smugly over a mug.

She groaned, "You're so not helping." Sahara looked between the two men both smiling at her. Clopin's smile more pleading, Ryan's more like enjoying making her squirm. "Do I have to?" she sighed. They both nodded enthusiastically. "Fine then"

"Excellent!" Clopin exclaimed. He grabbed her hand and pulled Sahara up to a stage that had been set up earlier in the evening. A man already stood on it playing a simple song on his guitar. He stopped as the approached. Clopin led Sahara to a rickety wooden stool and made her sit down. He ran to the front of the stage "Mesdames et Messieurs, we have a special treat," he called out getting the attention of those nearby. Sahara felt her face burning a deep crimson. "The beautiful Sahara, our beloved key bearer, will be singing what is sure to be a wonderful tune for your listening pleasure." He flashed a grin back at Sahara who was still shrinking back on the stool and dashed off the stage.

Sahara looked to the guitarist who looked back at her as though he was simply waiting for her to start. She gulped past the lump in her throat as she stared at the crowd that had quickly gathered. Closing her eyes, words and a melody began resonating from her vocal cords. The guitarist played along as though he had already known what Sahara was going to sing.

_Jenny's afraid of water_

_I mean she swims so well, but still_

_She's afraid of water_

_And so she won't go near the sea_

_Not me_

_I'm not afraid of anything_

_Be it mountains, water, dragons, dark or sky_

_I'm not afraid of anything_

_Tell me where's the challenge if you never try_

_So watch me fly_

_I'm not afraid_

_Katie's afraid of darkness_

_I mean she sleeps and all, but still_

_She's afraid of darkness_

_So when the lights are out she has to hold my hand_

_I don't understand_

_I'm not afraid of anything_

_Be it growing old or going out of style_

_I'm not afraid of anything_

_Who would give up what they want without a trial_

_Another mile_

_I'm not afraid_

_And I feel the calling of adventure_

_And I hear the ringing in my ear_

_The lights are glaring_

_Trumpets blaring_

_I'm right here_

_And I hear the calling of tomorrow_

_And I feel the stirring in my bones_

_Listen to the calling of excitement_

_Can you feel the pounding of my heart_

_The lights are ready_

_Pulse is steady_

_I can start_

_Never stop the calling of a challenge_

_Blessing on the water and the stones_

_And I'm not afraid of anyone_

_I am sure to win with anyone at all_

_I'm not afraid of anyone_

_Not a soul alive can get behind this wall_

_So let them call_

_And watch them fall_

_Cause after all_

_I'm not afraid_

She held the final note, letting it fade away with the last plucks of the guitar. The audience clapped loudly, shouting bravo's and encores. Sahara stood up quickly, gave a timid bow and raced off the stage.

"Ah, magnifique." Clopin found her more quickly than she expected him to. "Beautiful as the girl who sang it."

Sahara felt her face flush. "Thanks you, but seriously you can cut the charming rouge act now."

Clopin looked taken aback. "I have no idea what you speak of. I am simply telling the truth. That was wonderful and I have no idea why you were so worried to perform."

"Well we can't all be bold enough to wear bright purple and yellow in public," Sahara teased.

"It's gold mademoiselle, thank you very much" He pointed out with a smirk which made Sahara giggle.

Ryan sauntered over still looking somewhat smug. Sahara wondered why he always seemed to be around when Clopin was nearby. Not that she really minded. He just seemed much more watchful when the gypsy king was present. "That really was good." He admitted. "Though it did make you seem slightly vain"

"What?" Sahara blurted. "Self confidence doesn't mean I'm vain. And it's just a song anyway. It doesn't mean anything."

"I find that hard to believe." Clopin admitted. Sahara sent him a look but before she could respond he spoke again. "Might I have a word with you moi chere?

"Uh… Sure." She agreed looking at Ryan who gave her a strange pointed look back.

"What now?"

"We have to get going soon," he reminded her.

"I know that. Don't worry, we'll be right back." She assured him with a half smile. Sahara turned back to Clopin and followed him away from the stage area as a new singer took her place.

* * *

Sahara and Clopin retreated to a far less busy area of the Court. Clopin's wagon was parked there and Sahara wondered if it was where he usually lived or if it was just a temporary refuge while the court was put back in order. For some reason, she was extremely happy to see the painted puppet wagon. It was an odd testament of hope for the courts renovation. Clopin entered the wagon leaving Sahara outside. She leaned heavily against the wooden vehicle lost in thought until she heard his voice again, "Might I ask you a question, dear Sahara?"

"Ask away," she called back.

He stuck his head out of the cart for a moment and looked her in the eyes. His face was more serious than she had ever seen it. "What is it that you want in life?"

Sahara faltered "I… I'm not sure what exactly you mean."

His expression softened and he ducked back into the wagon continuing to talk. "I mean you broke down earlier and I personally wondered why you are putting yourself through all this. Helping my people and the others in other worlds like us."

"I guess destiny." Sahara knew that was a lame reason, but she couldn't rightly tell him she was there because a Greek God needed hearts, " I can't really explain it. All these worlds I've seen have been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I feel connected to them. And if I can help you all by beating the heck out of some baddies with a big key, so be it. I was just made the perfect offer and I couldn't turn it down.

Clopin walked out of the wagon, a grin on his face "And 'you're not afraid of anything.'"

"Like I said, just a song"

"But I feel it holds something more to you. And you did sing it beautifully."

" I can't really handle compliments but thank you." She smiled.

"I have something for you." The gypsy king said holding out his fist. He opened it to reveal the blue stone heart Sahara knew she should have probably found far earlier than now. "You already have a fairly good collection going."

"I'm working toward the complete set." Sahara said taking the gift from his hand and attaching it to the chain around her neck.

Clopin sighed, "Well, I hope that you do complete your goal. And that you are wise enough and unafraid enough to do what must be done when the time comes" he replied cryptically.

As Sahara once again struggled with a response, Clopin beat her to words "Come, let us return before our dear friend Ryan thinks I've stolen you away into the night." Sahara laughed but kept turning his earlier words over in her head.

* * *

Sahara realized just how much she loved the gypsies when she tried to leave. It seemed everyone, even those she hadn't seen before, wanted to say goodbye to her and thank her for her help with the battle or her song or just for being there. Knowing she'd stay there for the rest of her life if he'd allow her to, Ryan tried to move her more quickly out of the Court of Miracles. Her final stop brought her to Phoebus, Quasimodo, Esmeralda, and Clopin.

"You did great kid." Phoebus said, extending a hand to her. Sahara smiled and pulled him into a hug which he reluctantly accepted.

Quasimodo pulled her into a bone crushing hug and thanked her for her help as well. "You're going to be all right Quasi." She assured him "But if anyone gives you trouble again, I'll be down here to take care of them right away."

"You've definitely got the singing down" Esmeralda commented as she hugged Sahara. "You'll have to come back so I can teach you some dance moves and we'll make you a full fledged gypsy. You and I could be an unstoppable duo" Sahara agreed.

Finally she reached Clopin, whom she grabbed in a tight hug, "Thank you." She whispered as she pulled away from him.

"You will be fine moi chere, but you must come visit us as soon as your work is done. I am king and I decree it!!" Sahara nodded and he kissed her lightly on the cheek.

She walked back over to Ryan, waved goodbye one last time, and the two made their way through the catacombs and back into the Parisian streets. It made the silence that had existed since the final goodbyes seem even more deafening.

"So what did he talk to you about?" Ryan finally asked

Sahara raised an eyebrow. "Nothing much. He just gave me the other heart. Why?"

"Just curious"

"Or were you jealous?"

"What?"

"I think you were a teeny tiny bit jealous of our friend the gypsy king," she teased, feeling more like herself then she had in a while.

Ryan's cheeks tinged a hardly noticeable pink, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself, Ry." She smiled, turning and walking down the street. "See you in the next world." she waved back at him over her shoulder.

"I…" Ryan stuttered slightly before giving up and heading in the opposite direction. He was not jealous, he reassured himself; Sahara was just ridiculous.

**A/N:** Well that took me long enough didn't it? In all honesty I had almost given up on ever updating this story. Then the other day I was reading one of my favorite Disney based story and thinking about and writing up pieces of HOW #2… yeah, I started working on the sequal when I've barely finished half of the first one. So I was like, I better go back and help Sahara & Ryan w/ their Frollo problem. And here is the result.

At this rate I'll do a chapter a year and be done by 2020 or something like that. I know, I'm lame, I'm sorry. Life just sucks like that sometimes. I mean I'm only trying to work on 3 stories at once right now and go to work and school! Honestly I feel so bad about taking so freaking long.

About this chapter: The chapters are a little messed up now b/c I deleted the old ones. So you've probably read the first half before, I just condensed it. Sorry if my French sucks!! That's about it I think.

And my writing style has definitely changed since I started (for the better I think). So I've kind of been working through the older chapters trying to re-write them and improve them. I also discovered this wonderful thing called editing. You know, actually reading over what I write before I post it and fixing stupid things (no seriously, I use to just read it a couple times and post, now I'm working harder at it). In all honestly, this story is running at like 108 pages right now and I can't make myself give up on it! I can't promise you anything, but I'm trying really hard to keep working on this story. I really do love it (so much so that I'm trying to keep Pirates of the Caribbean fiction out of my head). Well see what happens. As always, reviews always make me want to work more!

Thanks guys for dealing w/ me:D


	7. A Pirates Life For Me

**Chapter 7: A Pirate's Life For Me**

As she left Paris via the strange teleporting stone Hades had given her, Sahara promptly passed out. She woke several hours later unsure of her surroundings. Opening her eyes slowly she took in the dark tones of the furniture around her. For a split second she thought she was home again, lying in her own bed and far away from the bizarre life she'd been quickly growing accustom. A second look around told her she was definitely in the Underworld. What puzzled her was the comfortable bed she found herself lying on. The pillow was more comfortable and the linens were warmer and softer then any at home. She pulled the sheets closer, closing her eyes again.

Her serenity was disturbed, however, by her mind, filled with unanswered questions. How did she get here? Where was Hades? Why wasn't he standing over her, screaming for her to get going? She opened her eyes again and slowly sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. Just then door opened revealing Pain and Panic. The imps stared at Sahara who stared back just as intrigued.

"Can I help you boys?' she asked, as she stretched out her arms.

The creatures looked at one another. Panic was the first to speak, his voice shaky as per usual, "We… we didn't know you were awake."

"Well, I just woke up," Sahara admitted. "I wouldn't expect you to have already known. That'd be a little high on the creepy scale."

As she got to her feet, the minions immediately tensed up. Sahara's eyebrow rose instinctively. She stepped to left and the imps, still blocking to doorway, did the same. They followed her to the right as well. Sahara sighed, "Hades doesn't want me leaving the room, huh?"

"Why would you think that?" Pain replied, trying as best as the squat purple creature could to look innocent.

Sahara rolled her eyes and retreated back to the bed. She flopped down in a huff, arms folded over her chest. "So, what am I suppose to do? Wait until he's ready for me?"

"I dunno. Maybe you could go on your next world?" Sahara knew Pain had a point. However, sheer curiosity was keeping her from leaving just yet. She wanted to know why Hades had let her stay there especially after the constant pushing she'd been privy to since her first mission. She reached into her pocket for the teleportation stone, but found it was missing. The curiosity devoured her.

"Hey guys," she called out to the purple and green imps who looked both surprised and frightened that she had addressed them. "Quick question: Is there any thing to eat around here?"

"You don't want to eat the food here." Panic replied in all seriousness

Sahara couldn't help but laugh; she knew full well the power of the food of the Underworld. Since she already owed Hades for bringing her here, the thought of having to spend any more time in the Underworld after this journey because of food didn't sound all that interesting. "I know that. I didn't mean from here. Somewhere else perhaps, maybe some takeout."

The imps nodded at each other, "We can get that!" Pain said. "Stay here, we'll be right back."

Sahara smiled and nodded as the two ran off. It had been far easier to get rid of them than she had expected. Waiting a few more seconds to make sure they were far enough away not to raise an alarm, Sahara quickly made her way out of the bedroom. She silently padded though the drab hallways bound for the throne room. At the end of the hall was a set of foreboding black doors. They resembled giant eyes staring directly at Sahara. She couldn't escape their gaze and for a few seconds wondered if they would see her and report back to Hades. Instead through the slightly ajar doors she heard voices. Sahara snuck closer to the monstrous doorway and attempted to peer though the crack.

On the other side she barely caught sight of what she thought was a woman. There were flashes of black and green fabric as she spoke and gesticulated toward Hades, "Why is she not out?!" The woman asked, her tone was calm, but the power and hostility behind it was unmistakable. As the woman walked past Hades, Sahara though she made eye contact with the Lord of the Dead. She wasn't completely sure he had seen her, but she jumped back and pressed herself against the doorframe. Closing her eyes and attempting to slow her breathing, Sahara tried to keep her focus on the conversation.

"Would you just chill?" Strangely, Sahara felt calmer when she heard Hades. She still wasn't sure he had seen her, but it seemed he wasn't going to rat her out to his guest. "Might I remind you who brought you back so you could accomplish this plan, Mal. You need to trust my decision making. I've been at this game eons longer than you."

"Do not challenge me Hades!" The woman roared. "You know as well as I that we are quickly running out of time"

"And you know that we shouldn't push this kid to the breaking point! She's made it further than any of the others. Do you want to waste that?"

An agonizing silence followed. Sahara was sure her loud heart beat would cut through the still air and give away her position. At the same time she wondered if the woman had simply quietly killed Hades for 'defying' her.

"Very well," the woman finally said. Sahara let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. "But if she does not finish her task by the 13th at midnight it will be your head. This is our last chance"

"Believe me, Mal, I know. You've only reminded me 500 times. Just worry about your aspects of this shindig; I'll worry about mine."

Sahara strained to listen but there was silence once again. Then she heard Hades, "You can come out now, kid. She's gone."

Taking a deep breath, Sahara pushed open the door and timidly stuck her head out. Hades stood next to the conference table leaning heavily against a chair. Concern filled his pointed features as he stared back at her. Sahara quickly but apprehensively continued into the room walking through the remnants of a green smoke cloud. "How much did you hear?" Hades asked.

"More than I should have." Sahara admitted as she sat in "her" chair. She looked up at Hades like a child waiting to be scolded.

"That's what I get for thinking those imps can do anything right!" He fumed, flames burning redder than normal.

Sahara stared off across the throne room, "Are you…" she brought the Lord of the Dead's focus back to her, but her words caught in her throat. She knew she needed the answer, she just wasn't sure she wanted it. "Are you working with Maleficent?"

Hades sighed as he sat down at the head of the table and rested his head on his hand, "Yeah. You okay with that?"

Sahara bit at her thumb nail absentmindedly, "Yeah, it's just… I don't know. It's like, even though I knew I was working for you this whole time, having her in the mix makes it feel more evil somehow."

Hades chuckled, "I'm not supposed to take offence to that? You're more afraid of a chick with a horn hat than of me."

"It's not that," Sahara tried to rationalize, but couldn't help smiling. "It's just with you, I've realized that most of the time you're not as scary as you've think you are."

The Lord of the Dead smiled, though he looked tired "In all honesty, it's just around you that I seem to lose my evil mojo. Don't ask me why."

"Cause you like me," Sahara giggled.

"Wouldn't go that far, babe."

"Well, then why did you keep me here and take my teleporter?"

"You needed some time to rest."

"Why now? What happened to pushing me to the point of breaking like you've been doing?" Sahara was only half serious. Then again, Hades seemed to be in a question answering mood and she wasn't about to let that go to waste.

"You don't know how close you came to not making it earlier."

Sahara gave him a puzzled look, "Teleporting here? I know I blacked out but I didn't think…"

"Not then," Hades explained. Sahara saw a hint of worry on his face, "Back when you were nearly hung and stabbed… ring a bell?"

"You're telling me I almost died." Hades nodded. "But I've nearly gotten killed multiple times now."

"You… You don't know how close you were this time. Like scissors to the thread close."

"The Fates had my…" Sahara gulped. It disturbed her more than she though it would to know that the fates had held her life in their hands.

"Bingo," Hades said. "I dunno what pulled you back, but I just figured you might need a break after all that. I don't mean to sound freaked or anything, but I think you're stressing yourself out and making it harder for you to recover."

"Well, maybe if you weren't such a slave driver," She teased.

"Maybe if you weren't so headstrong and argumentative."

"If you didn't lose your temper so quickly."

"If you didn't do the same."

"Maybe if you could come up with better comebacks." Hades jaw dropped as he ran out of things to say. Sahara couldn't help but be proud of herself.

"See if I ever do you a favor again." He said, folding his arms across his chest.

Sahara gently placed a hand on the God's gray arm. "Thank you, Hades." She said sincerely.

"Hey, don't get all mushy on me!" Regular Hades was back in the flash of a cheesy smile. He had returned as quickly as he had appeared which, to her surprise, relieved Sahara. Though she had enjoyed seeing a less harsh side of the Lord of the Dead, she preferred snarky Hades. "Anything else you want to know?"

"What is the actual deal with you and Maleficent? Are you two dating or just working together to rule the world or what?"

"Firstly, ew! She's definitely not my type."

"Right, cause you got that Greek incestuous thing going on," Sahara mumbled.

Hades glared at her, "I'm choosing to ignore that because I don't want to have to kill you. And just for that, I'm not telling you anything else."

"But…" Sahara started, standing up from the table. "Why not?! Shouldn't I be well informed to your nefarious plot?"

"No, not really." He said standing up and towing over Sahara. "You're still a minion, all be it a lippy one. And as such, you do your job because you're getting what you want. You shouldn't need anymore reason."

Sahara was about to unleash another verbal attack on the God when the throne room doors were thrown open. "Boss! Pain lost the girl!" Came the frantic voice of Panic as he ran toward Hades, throwing himself at the God's feet.

"I did not!" Pain cried, running into the room. He grabbed Hades robes pulling at them frantically. "Panic did!"

"Did not!"

"Did so!"

"Technically, you both did." Sahara interjected.

"Did not!" They both yelled back at her. The imps turned back to their boss and simultaneously gulped as they realized their mistake.

Hades was silent, a hand covering his face as he marveled at the ineptitude of his staff. "Sahara," he finally said, "Take this and get out of here." He placed the blue teleportation stone on the table next to Sahara. "Boys, I'm craving barbeque." Pain and Panic shared worried glances before taking off at full speed out of the throne, a fresh fireball hot on their heels. Sahara tried not to laugh as she grabbed the stone and made a less painful exit from the Underworld.

* * *

When Sahara reappeared, she was hit by the second case of déjà vu she had experienced that day. Like the last time world she had encountered, Sahara found herself in a dimly lit alleyway. However, this time, the street adjacent to her was loud with activity. Her clothing was also slightly varied. She wore a tight fitting dark red full length dress; the corset of which was laced almost unforgivably tight. The colors were much duller than Paris but adhered to her usual black and red color pallet. Her hair hung loosely and gone was the jewelry of the gypsies. Sahara slowly made her way out onto the street hoping to quickly blend in with the locals. What she saw, made her jaw drop.

The city she had landed in was the legendary pirate haven, Tortuga. Sahara jumped back as a man fell from a roof and landed a few inches in front of her. He stood up laughing as if nothing had happened. Everyone seemed to be inebriated or have been at sea for far too long. Men stumbled around with half empty bottles of rum in one hand and a girl in the other. Sahara watched a woman run by with a plate of food in her hands. A man followed closely behind her trying to catch up. Sahara wasn't sure he was after the food.

At this point, she knew she needed to find Ryan or someone who would actually be able to help her. Across the square was The Faithful Bride Tavern; a good enough place to look if any. Sahara ducked and weaved her way through the crowd, enjoying the journey more than she expected to. A few feet from the tavern a man stepped in her way. He was at least a foot taller than her, completely bald and wearing an evil looking grin. "Where you off to in such a hurry, miss?"

Sahara attempted to be non-chelant. "It's not really your business now is it?"

"But what if we was to make it our business?" a voice from behind her asked. Two other men joined the circle quickly forming around Sahara.

"Listen, gentlemen, I'm actually on my way to meet someone. Now if you don't mind…"

"That's too bad," the first man said. "Because we was thinking you should join us."

"I'd really rather not, no offence intended."

The men moved closer, closing off any hope of Sahara's escape. "Not sure you have a choice, love."

Two men grabbed her arms, a third pulled out a length of rope and began binding her hands in front of her. Sahara fought back and screamed out, but she was cry was drown in the cacophony that was Tortuga.

* * *

The men led Sahara through the back alleys of the town. She continued to struggle against them calling out to anyone that would listen. After a short time a gag had been put in her mouth. She marveled at the fact that no one stopped or even looked twice at the four men leading a tied up woman through the streets. Her mind wandered off to where they could possibly be taking her and what they could possibly be planning. As she tried to shut off her imagination, the men stopped.

"Time for the show, dear." The bald man said. He smiled at Sahara showing off missing and blackened teeth. Grabbing the end of the rope around Sahara's hands, he quickly made his way up a set of stairs, dragging her behind them. The pirate pulled aside a curtain, removed Sahara's gag and pushed her out.

Regaining her balance, Sahara tried to take in the scene before her. A large crowd of people had gathered around the stage Sahara stood on. Behind her hung a large sign reading "Auction—Take a wench for a Bride." Before her stood a portly woman in a light blue dress and a man dressed in the finery of a captain. The man, who appeared to be the auctioneer shouted out to the waiting crowd "And now ya bilge rats… Do I hear six? Who makes it six?"

"Six it be," a man in the crowd heckled. "Six, bottles o' rum."

"I'm not spongin' for rum! It be gold I'm after" The auctioneer turned back to the woman. "Strike yer colors, ya brazen wench. No need to expose yer superstructure."

Suddenly a call went up from the crowd "Pipe the redhead aboard! Come on now! We wants the red head!"

Sahara realized their chant was aimed at her and felt her face pale. The bald pirate had come up behind her and yelled back "Quite, ya scum!" He fired a warning shot into the crowd which silenced them quickly.

The next thing Sahara knew, the auctioneer had grabbed the rope and pulled her closer to him. She wasn't sure where the other woman had gone off to, but she was more afraid for herself at the moment.

"Best of luck, deary." The auctioneer whispered with a smile before turning Sahara toward the crowd "Weigh anchor now, ye swabbies! What be I offered for this winsome wench?"

Numbers instantly began coming from the waiting pirates, "10", "15", "25."

Sahara frantically searched the crowd for anyone that could possibly help her. Suddenly she spotted Ryan toward the front of the crowd. He was dressed like the rest of the pirates but was slightly cleaner. "Help!" she hissed at him.

"35!" he shouted to the auctioneer. It wasn't exactly what Sahara had expected. She had hopped for an attack on her kidnappers and a daring escape or something of the sort.

"45" someone else called. Sahara suddenly began to distrust the plan even more.

"Come on lads! You're the one's that wanted her. Some of you've been waiting years for a wench like this."

More numbers: 50, 65, 70. Sahara looked pointedly at Ryan who was temporarily the highest bidder. Had she not been about to be sold to some random filthy pirate, she might have been flattered by the amount of money she was making.

The next call came from the back of the crowd. A gruff shout of "80". Sahara received a wide eyed look from Ryan. Her heart sank as she realized he couldn't outbid the last pirate.

A final bid went up, "100!"

"100 it be!" The pirate auctioneer shouted as the crowd collectively groaned. "Don't be disheartened mateys. There's still plenty of wenches…"

His words were quickly drown out as the bald pirate grabbed Sahara and pulled her through the crowd. She tried to peer over the other pirates to find Ryan but lost him as they hurriedly moved toward the back of the group. As her captor stopped to talk to another pirate, Sahara tried to shake off the leers and cat calls of the crowd. Suddenly she was unceremoniously thrown to the ground in front of the pirate who had won her. Sahara looked up into a grinning familiar face.

"You!" she said as the pirate helped her to her feet and pulled the ropes off of her wrists.

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly," Sahara admitted. "You're just kinda... infamous."

"Glad my reputation precedes me." He grinned. "What's your name, love?"

"Sahara Dalbek."

The pirate took her hand and bowed gallantly "Well, Miss Dalbek, you are now under the protection of Captain Jack Sparrow. But you apparently already knew that."

"Sahara!" Sahara spun at the call of her name only to see Ryan pushing through the crowd toward her.

Jack quickly stepped in front of Sahara, "I'll take care of this." He mumbled to her. Before Sahara could protest, Jack was yelling at Ryan. "Lay off it mate. She's mine. Paid for her fair and square!"

Sahara couldn't help laughing. "You're not serious are you?" Ryan asked.

Jack squinted at Ryan before suddenly recognizing him, "Cooper! 'sat you? What're you doing in Tortuga?"

"Looking for her!"

The pirate captain looked back at Sahara in confusion before turning to Ryan again, "Sorry, mate. I told you, you've got to get your own."

"Jack." Sahara leaned over the pirates shoulder to get his attention. He gave her a curt nod as if acknowledging her right to interrupt as she stepped out from behind him. "It's okay. He really was looking for me."

"And you wanted him to find you?" Sahara laughed but nodded.

"She's the key barer, Jack." Ryan tried to explain.

Jack looked between the two for a moment before addressing Ryan. "That changes everything." He grabbed Sahara's hand and started off down the street "She's definitely coming with me then. I could use that kind of power."

Sahara stopped in her tracks, trying to look stern despite the smile threatening to crack her features. Jack sauntered back over to her "Doesn't quite work that way, Jack."

The pirate pouted ever so slightly, "Fine then." He turned to Ryan again "We're heading to the tavern. You may join if you like. But hands off me wench."

Sahara's jaw dropped. "He did not just say that!" she yelled at Ryan, who was following Jack and now the one trying to resist laughing. Sahara crossed her arms over her chest in a huff and stormed off after the pirate captain.

* * *

The interior of the Faithful Bride Tavern was much like everything else in Tortuga; loud, exciting and dangerous. Upon entering Jack had grabbed Sahara, navigated her through the crowd and placed her in an empty seat at a table near the back of the room. He then grabbed Ryan, who had expertly kept up with them, and pulled him into another room a few feet away. Jack stuck his head out and looked at Sahara, "Stay here, love. Keep the boy company. We'll just be a second." In a flash he was gone again.

Sahara looked over for the first time at the shell-shocked young man sitting across the table from her. His clean cloths and face made him stick out considerably. It made Sahara wonder how incognito she truly was. The man sat rigidly in his chair, his gaze shifting between Sahara and the rambunctious patrons of the tavern.

"Um.. Hi," She said, sticking a hand out in greeting. "I'm Sahara."

"William Turner," he took her hand and gave her a timid smile. "Might I ask how you know Jack Sparrow?"

Sahara sighed, "Technically he just saved me from a bunch of lecherous pirates. That and my friend that he pulled in there knows him." Will nodded, still looking confused. "And what are you in for Mr. Turner?"

"In for?"

"Why are you here with Jack?"

Will sighed, his entire demeanor changing, "He's supposed to be helping me find Eliz… a friend of mine. Though I'm beginning to question his motives."

"Well that's the first rule you learn when working with someone like Jack."

"What's that?"

Sahara smiled, "Never trust a pirate."

"But isn't your friend that just went in with Jack a pirate? You seem to trust him."

"I.. I'm not sure I have an answer for you. He…" Sahara hadn't quite thought of that. It was true Ryan had been a pirate the first time she'd met him and it seemed he had adapted the same attitude here but it didn't mean she distrusted him. Jack was different; she knew Jack only did things to benefit himself. Ryan… well in all honesty she didn't know much about him at all. She had no answer for why he was helping her and why she trusted him. Will was still looking at her expectantly and Sahara knew she didn't have a quick answer for him.

Luckily she was saved as Jack once again popped his head out of the backroom. After a suspicious glance around the tavern, he nodded for Sahara and Will to join him. The two exchanged confused glances before standing from the table and making their way over to Jack.

Inside the room were Ryan and another pirate. Ryan leaned lazily against a back wall, an unreadable look on his face. The other man sat at the only table in the room, looking suspiciously between the two new comers. "These be the ones ye were talking about Jack?"

Suddenly Jack popped up between Sahara and Will, lazily placing his arms around their shoulders and pulling them closer. "Quite right, introductions." Jack let go of Sahara and pulled Will in front him "Will, the man back there that just showed up is an old 'friend'. Name's Ryan Cooper. The old codger at the table here is Joshamee Gibbs. He's the man that's going to get us a crew to go rescue Eliza or whatever her name is."

"Elizabeth!"

"Right, right. Anyway, men, this is William Turner." Sahara saw Gibbs perk up at the name. Jack shot him a very pointed look and Gibbs nodded.

Pushing Will aside, Jack grabbed Sahara and positioned her in front of him. "Sahara, you heard the introductions. Gents... or I guess just Gibbs, this is Sahara Dalbek." He let go of her and began whispered something to Gibbs about leverage.

Sahara rolled her eyes and walked over to Ryan. She leaned against the wall next to him and sighed. "Did you tell them more about the key blade?"

Ryan nodded, "They don't believe me 100. They'll probably ask you about it when they're done discussing Will."

"Sahara, come back here a moment, love." Jack called. Ryan smiled with an "I-told-you-so" look plastered across his face. With a groan, Sahara headed back over to the pirate captain.

"How can I help you, Jack" she smiled sarcastically.

"See, this one listens to me much better than the whelp." Sahara wasn't sure if he too was being sarcastic or if in his Jack ways he simply chose to ignore her tone. "Back in the square Ryan over there told us you were the legendary key bearer." Sahara nodded. "Now see, I believe him, but Gibbs here, he's in need of some convincing."

Sahara sighed, "You want to see it?" The expectant looks on the faces of the two pirates gave Sahara her answer. She stuck out her hand, took a deep breath and closed her eyes. In her mind she saw the blade, she heard the 'whoosh' it made as it sliced through the air and she felt it's smooth handle in her hand.

Opening her eyes again, Jack, Will, and Gibbs stared wide eyed at her. Sahara flicked the blade back and forth lazily, having grown accustom to it and its effect on people long ago. "Proof enough?" she asked holstering it in her belt.

Jack nodded enthusiastically, "Excellent! It'll be even easier for us to save, Mr. Turner's friend with you on our side." Will shot an unsure look in Sahara's direction. She knew he didn't trust Jack even when he said the things Will wanted to hear. "We've managed to get a couple rooms here for the night, we'll get us a crew in the morning and we can get this little rescue mission under way." Jack smiled, his gold teeth sparkling in the dim light of the tavern.

**To Be Continued**

A/N: So this chapter was super quick and was so much fun to write.

Favorite part: 1) The end of the Hades scene where he tells her to leave and threatens to fry P&P. Don't ask me why, but I've wanted to do that for a while.

2) Pirate ride references. I love pirates the movie, but the rides fun too. I'm pretty sure I made Sahara a red head specifically for the auction scene. Also, Jack is way fun!

I'd love to know what you guys think. I honestly probably put too much work into this stuff (I looked up the exact quotes from the ride for this section). Also, do you guys like it better when I do one big update with the whole chapter or smaller ones every 10 or so pages? Just curious. Thank you!

(Ha, I updated two stories in less than 24hrs! Holy cow :P)


	8. A Pirates Life for Me pt 2

(A/N: Please if you have any interest in this story and the crazy 3 yr journey it's been to get it even this far… check out the A/N at the end of this chapter. Thanks!!)

**Chapter 7: A Pirates Life for Me**

**(part 2)**

A little while later, Sahara entered the second room Jack had rented and flopped lazily onto the small bed. Her skirts flounced up around her as she fell and she cursed her costuming for the eighteenth time that night. The room was fairly silent, which surprised Sahara. She hadn't expected much insulation from the sounds of the drunken bar patrons downstairs.

She knew the moment of peace would soon be disturbed by Ryan and the pirate captain that were to share her quarters. They were currently in the process of checking on the room Gibbs and Will would be sharing next door. Though she'd probably miss some choice pirate scheming by leaving, Sahara had commandeered the room key from Jack, feeling more fatigued than she knew she should. It wasn't like Hades hadn't given her a break earlier. As she began contemplating the long term effects of this work on her mental health, the door opened.

Sahara lifted her head to see Jack standing in the door frame grinning mischievously. "Finally I get some time alone with my wench." Groaning, Sahara sat up and sent the pirate a pointed look. His smile instantly fell. "You're no fun at all. Why'd I even bother buying you?"

"Not my fault. You should have done more thorough research before jumping into such a big purchase. Gotta stay away from the wenches with a destiny."

Jack smiled again closing the door and making his way over to the bed. "I'll keep that in mind next time I'm in the market." He sat down next to Sahara, absentmindedly resting a hand on her knee.

"Where's Ryan?"

"Bringing up him again? I don't get what you see in Cooper."

Sahara over at the pirate in confusion. "Aren't you two friends?"

"I suppose so," Jack contemplated. "It's just he's a good man. And though I've only known you for a bit, I didn't think you'd go for those types. From what I've heard you've been cavorting with pirates and gypsies and disgraced soldiers."

"But Ryan's been along for most of that."

Jack stared off, his mind more than likely wondering miles away. "Which also seems strange. Usually he only comes to places like this to escape."

"Escape what?"

Jack suddenly turned back to Sahara, "How much do you really know about him?"

"Not a whole lot." She admitted.

Jack's features softened, "Maybe it's best it not come from me."

Before Sahara could protest, the bedroom door opened again. This time it was Ryan who looked between Jack and Sahara in confusion. "Did I interrupt something?" he asked.

"Not at all," Jack said jumping to his feet and hurrying over to Ryan. He threw an arm around the newcomer. "We were just about to discuss sleeping arrangements."

Sahara looked around the room seeing only the bed she sat on and a lumpy brown chair in the far corner. "How's that suppose to work?"

"Well, as gentlemen we must let you have the actual bed, Miss Dalbek." Sahara smiled at the chivalry even if it was coming somewhat backhandedly from a pirate. She decided not to fight him on it.

"Will you two be sharing the chair?" Sahara asked. Both men shot her a dirty look, "Or is it rock, paper, scissors for the better spot."

Ryan looked at Jack, "That might not be a bad idea."

Three matches later, Sahara handed Ryan the extra comforter from the bed. He placed it on the floor and grumbled as Jack smiled triumphantly from the chair.

* * *

Later that night, Sahara wondered if she had made the right choice after all. The bed was unforgivingly hard and was probably a good match for the wooden floor. She flopped over on her side and opened her eyes for a moment; before she closed them a silhouette came into view. As her eyes focused she realized it was Ryan. He was leaning heavily against the frame of the window staring off into space. Just as Sahara thought to get up and say something to him, she heard Jack from the dark corner of the room. "What's got you up at an hour like this Cooper?" 

Ryan shook his head as if pulling himself back into the present, "What do you mean?" he asked. "You're up."

"Yes, but you're the one staring out the window," Jack rationalized as he sauntered over to the window. "Therefore, you've got something on your mind"

"I don't know what to tell you Jack." Ryan said, turning back to the window.

There was a brief silence before Jack spoke again, "Is it the girl?"

"Sahara?" Jack nodded. "Why would you say that?"

"Because every bloke I come across lately seems to be all torn up over some lass. It's bloody annoying!" The pirate threw his arms up in frustration, then crossed them over his chest. "Though, this girl, this girl I like. Not sure I've seen you taken with one like that before."

"I'm not taken with anyone." Ryan sighed, running a hand through his hair. It rebelled, falling shaggily across his face again. "And what do you mean 'one like that'?"

"Cooper, the only girls I've ever seen you with are those court dandies you bring along to parties."

"I bring those girls along to those parties to quite my parents and nothing more."

"Then what's with this one?" Jack asked pointing in Sahara's direction. "She'd exciting and new so you're all hung up on her?"

"They sent me to help her," Ryan said. There was anger in his voice but it seemed to be masking something more important. "Nothing more."

"Well that's good," Jack said, leaning against the wall, "I was going to tell you to lay off her."

"Why's that?"

"How quickly you've forgotten she's mine, mate!"

Ryan snorted, "You only bought her because you knew I wanted her."

"Now see, there's the thing," Jack said stepping closer to Ryan and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Did you do it to save her or did you do it simply because you wanted her?"

Sahara strained to listen through the silence, sure she'd missed Ryan's response. He turned staring straight at her with unreadable features. Sahara stared back hoping her corner was dark enough that she wouldn't be seen. "I'm can't answer that question, Jack." He finally said turning back to the pirate.

Jack smiled, teeth gleaming in the moon light. "That right there's the answer isn't it?"

Ryan sighed again, "Whatever you say."

The men continued conversing a little while longer about subjects that didn't interest Sahara nearly as much. She felt guilty for hearing information she shouldn't have been privy to, but she couldn't help dwelling on the words until sleep finally took over her mind again.

* * *

"Rise and shine, love." Sahara groaned as the pirate's voice entered her only half conscious mind. She had wondered if one of these times she would awaken to find that nothing she had gone through had really happened. The wake up call from the pirate captain didn't seem to be conducive with that theory. 

Sahara raised her head, groggily trying to focus on Jack's face. "What time is it?" she asked.

"What's that matter? We need to get going. Get up! Up, up up." He declared standing up and raising his hands several times.

Eyebrow raised at the enthusiastic pirate, Sahara rolled back over grumbling "Five more minutes."

"None of that." Jack said, physically grabbing her and pulling her into a sitting position. "You need to change and get downstairs"

"Change?" Sahara asked, puzzled. She was still garbed in the bodice and skirt she had been adorned in by whatever force provided her wardrobe.

Jack looked at her pointedly, "Look, darling, you're not quite sea worthy in all that boning and those flouncey skirts. So I thought if you're going to be a pirate, you might want to look the part." He grabbed a small wad of clothing from the end of the bed and tossed it at Sahara.

Looking at the bundle, Sahara couldn't shake the image of the "Dreaded Captain Jack Sparrow" going clothing shopping. "Thank you Jack."

"Don't thank me," he insisted. "Was your dear Ryan's idea." The image in Sahara's mind became ten times funnier. "Now hurry up."

It was Sahara's turn to give the pirate a pointed look. "You need to leave."

"But you're my wench."

"Go!"

"Fine then," Jack said heading toward the door with a slight pout on his face. Sahara pushed aside the covers and followed him. Once the door shut she quickly locked it.

"Touché, love." She heard the pirate say and she couldn't help smiling to herself.

* * *

Sahara made her way downstairs a few moments later, feeling far more comfortable and eager to start the day. The outfit was simpler than anything she'd worn recently; a beige shirt, black pants and a tight fitting burgundy vest. Sahara felt like a pirate from the red bandana to the black leather boots. She hadn't realized just how much she really enjoyed pants until that very moment. The thought of burning the skirts and dresses that kept being provided for her briefly passed through her mind as she headed down into the bar. 

Ryan sat at a table a few feet away from her. Leaning back lazily in his chair he stared off through the window overlooking the main drag of Tortuga. Sahara had never seen him quite so relaxed. His thoughtful stare reminded the conversation she had been silent witness to the night before.

_Did you do it to save her or did you do it simply because you wanted her?—_Jack's question ran through her mind again. Sahara shook her head as if to loosen the words. It wasn't her place to answer or to even know for that matter.

Clearing her throat pointedly, she pulled Ryan from his thoughts. He stood from the table, his brown eyes flicking quickly from her head to her toe. "Everything fit all right?" he asked. Sahara nodded. "You look good, I mean the cloths do. You look like a pirate."

Sahara knew she was blushing, "Thank you. Where's Jack?" She asked changing the subject.

"Gibbs took him and Will down to the docks to meet the crew he managed to collect."

"Those mad enough to sail to an island of death with a heat stroked, rum soaked, half-mad captain?"

"Basically." Ryan admitted, making his way toward the door of the tavern.

Sahara followed him, "Is it sad that we didn't even really have to be convinced to go along with this?"

"Just think of it as we'll fit in that much better" he smiled opening the door for her.

With a roll of her eyes Sahara said, "That doesn't make me feel better."

* * *

Sahara still didn't feel any better when they boarded the Interceptor. The crew might have been faithful and hard working but they were also as haggard and crazy as she assumed they would be. She couldn't help being conscious of the eyes that watched her as she and Ryan made their way across the deck. There were murmurs of bad omens surrounding having a woman on board-- let alone two-- and of the key blade and an island that couldn't be found. Sahara shook off the eyes deciding to focus on the tasks she was assigned as part of the crew. She was surprised to find she seemed to acquire the necessary stamina to work a hard as the rest of the pirates. Sahara decided not to question it, assuming it had something to do with the key blade. 

Soon after, The Interceptor cast off on its way to rendezvous with the pirates of the Black Pearl. Jack took the helm at first but once they reached open waters he handed it over to Anna Maria. Sahara looked up from the line she had tied off to see the grinning face of the captain. "Might I have a word, love?" Knowing she didn't really have a choice in the matter, Sahara followed Jack into his cabin.

"Those cloths suit you much better." He said as he closed the door behind Sahara.

Sahara smiled, "Well, apparently, you have good taste, Mr. Sparrow."

"That I do…" he grinned. "Now, on to business. Not sure you were quite filled in on the situation at hand."

Sahara shook her head taking a seat as Jack did the same. She tried to pull her mind away from the rocking of the boat afraid of getting seasick. Jack's plan was an excellent distraction. Meanwhile, she could figure out how to make sure the pirate didn't trick her or abuse her powers. "Once we reach the Isla De Muerta, you and Mr. Turner will be accompanying me to meet with Barbossa and try to strike an accord. We'll get William's girl back, dispose of the pirates and take all the shiny bits we want."

"What about Ryan?"

"He'll be fine here; he can watch the ship." Now Sahara was sure no one else had been told this plan. Ryan would never stand for sitting on the sidelines and not doing his job of protecting her.

"And what accord do you hope to strike with Barbossa? He's not just going to give us Elizabeth."

"That he won't, unless he realizes that we have the one who can truly break his curse."

Sahara gave him a pointed look, "So you're sacrificing Will?"

Jack held out a hand to stop her, "Not necessarily. But we do have leverage if it comes to that."

"All right," Sahara said with a sigh. She didn't know why Jack was entrusting her with the plan. She didn't like what could potentially befall herself and the others. Finally she added, "But Ryan comes with us."

Jack's eyebrow rose as a knowing smirk crossed his features, "Whatever makes you happy, darling. But you'll have to do one more thing for me." He stood from his chair, walking toward the far end of the cabin.

"And that would be?" As Sahara tried to question the pirate he opened the cabin's window. Salt water filled Sahara's nose.

"I know you've got all sorts of powers and what not with that key of yours." Jack said as he stared off at the ocean, "Think you could make this little boat of ours go any faster?"

He turned back to Sahara with a grin. Sahara stood, flashing her own smile. "Ship." She said simply, unsheathing the key blade and heading for the window.

Sahara pointed the key out over the sea and closed her eyes. The wind outside howled loudly and Sahara stumbled backwards into Jack. "Thank, love."

Suddenly there was a knock at the cabin door and it was thrown open. Gibbs stood in the doorway, worry written across his features. "Captain, we've picked up some good winds but it looks as though a storms heading straight for us."

There was a devilish glint to Jack's eyes as he looked from Sahara back to Gibbs, "Full speed ahead, Mr. Gibbs."

* * *

**(A/N: **I know I've apologized to you all about 600 times now for how long this story has taken me… so let's go for time 601. What sucks is that I know exactly where it's going. I have the end of this story, a sequel, and even a short story prequel all planned out it's just a matter of getting it all typed up. The other issue is I need to re-write the early chapters for anything I'm doing later to make sense. 

So basically what I'm trying to say is I'm putting this story on hiatus for a bit. I'm going back and re-writing all the early chapters. In a week or so I'm probably going to delete everything except for chapt 1 (cause it's the only one I've edited) and just kinda start over. That way you can re-read it and know what the hecks going on and how things all tie together. Sorry, folks, it's the only way I can see this thing making sense.

All right, that is all. I still appreciate reviews and such. Catch ya later :-D


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